A New Beginning: The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto
by FullofSeoul
Summary: The End of the Shinobi War came the highest cost. The cost of blood. Of life. As he lay, his blood dying the river crimson, he makes one wish. One prayer to be able to protect. One plea to save. Now, the Child of Prophecy must stand again to guide the children of Fiore, who bear the future on their shoulders as he once did. Naruto's legacy has ended, but Fairy Tail's has just begun
1. The Beginning of the End

**A New Beginning: The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto**

**A/N: Well then, this is my newest story. Enjoy, this is action-packed, more so than I would've liked, but I just wrote and wrote and this is what happened. So well shit. I would've added song links, but I'm tired and lazy and don't have time to search youtube for the perfect song. Sorry, maybe later.**

**Well, please vote on the survey on my profile on who to send to Fiore. I'm trying not to make this one NaruHina if I can, but they're winning in the poll.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

Uzumaki Naruto blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to restore his vision and looked across at the ruined landscape in front of him. His ears still rung from the explosion and his eyes still danced with black spots wherever he looked. He raised a hand to shield himself from the falling rain of blood and debris and slowly made himself to the lip of the crater. _'I have to see this to the end. It's not over until I've seen the results myself.'_ Still though, Naruto stumbled, his equilibrium shot because of the gargantuan crater, but before he fell to his knees onto the unforgiving rocks he felt two strong arms supporting him. He looked up gratefully at the eyes of his father, who smiled back. His father. He still couldn't believe it. His dead father had been resurrected through the Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) by his best friend, who had betrayed the village. He still didn't understand what had brought Sasuke's change of heart, but he wasn't about to question it now. On his other side, Sasuke strode up next to him and offered Naruto his shoulder, which the blond gratefully accepted. He smiled at the Uchiha who smirked back. The trio strode to the lip of the crater.

Naruto blinked his eyes rapidly again and gazed into the center of the crater. His breath hitched painfully in his lungs. There was nothing left, save for the charred remains of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the now unrecognizably marred body of Uchiha Obito. The corpse's mouth was locked in a silent eternal scream, cursing the cruel world that had taken his one love away from him. Beside him, Minato let one lone tear slide down his ashen cheeks in grievance for his former student before setting his lips in a thin line and turning away from the gruesome sight. It was finally over. The battleground was strangely silent. There were no cheers, no celebration. They had won, but the price had been far too high.

A slow clap brought Naruto out of his reverie. The Uzumaki stared at Uchiha Madara, who had begun to clap slowing with mocking emphasis, and a sense of despair began to settle in him. The battle was not over, he realized with a start. There was still one more threat, arguably the biggest one, which he had to take care of. How were they to beat him? All of the Shinobi Forces were exhausted and both Naruto and Sasuke were no exception. The resurrected Hokages had spent all their chakra in an attempt seal the Jubi and Obito away and had been incinerated in the resulting explosion when Obito had fought back with rabid ferocity. It was a miracle in itself that Minato had survived with his extreme speed and had not dissolved back into the void like the other Fire Shadows of old. He had no chance. Madara was still fresh; he had not done anything for the length of the whole battle save for using his chakra to force Obito to resurrect him using the Rinne Tensei. "It's impossible...," he whispered. How was he supposed to match this fearsome shinobi.

A smack on the back of his head brought him out of his negative thoughts. He looked in surprise to his left to find Sasuke giving him a small nod and a smirk, the Uchiha's equivalent of a fist pump and a yell to get his act together. Naruto blinked in surprise. Since when did he begin to think that it was his responsibility to do everything? Since when had he begun to act alone without relying on his friends? That's right, he wasn't alone. He had Sasuke. He had his friends, his comrades, the whole of the Shinobi world behind his back. Suddenly, the threat of Madara didn't seem so daunting.

Without warning, Minato rushed towards Madara, startling the Uchiha out of his mocking applause. Drawing a Hiraishin Kunai, the Fourth Hokage swung at the raven haired man, who easily parried the blow on the elbow guard of his armor. Madara sneered and moved to draw his war fan, but before the primordial Uchiha could retaliate, he disappeared in a flash of golden light and Minato crumpled to his knees, panting heavily.

"Dad!" Naruto cried, rushing over to the fallen form of his father, his own bruised body still being supported by the sturdy arms of Sasuke. "Are you alright?" the blond yelled, already flapping his arms around fretfully, not knowing what to do.

Minato chuckled weakly at his son's distress. "I'm fine Naruto, just a small case of chakra exhaustion. I've sent Madara as far off as I could using the Hiraishin (this is possible, Minato did it with the Kyubi's Bijudama, so why not with a human). I'm going to have to send you and Sasuke off towards the same place. I don't expect the two of you to beat him, just hold him off and stall for time until I can recover enough chakra to send some backup." Suddenly, the older blonde cut off from his monologue to grab Naruto in a tight hug.

"D-dad!" Naruto cried out in embarrassment, his cheeks flushing a deep red. The blond's eyes shot towards Sasuke, who was watching silently with a measure of amusement and envy. '_To hell with it._' he thought and slowly brought his arms up to return the hug.

"I'm so proud of you, son." The Fourth Hokage said. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when things got hard, but I knew you could get through. After all, you're your mother's son, and she was as stubborn as it gets." he chuckled and he patted Naruto's shaking back as the jinchuriki began to cry. "I know you can get through this too. You're more powerful that you believe, Naruto. You're a hero, more than I ever was. I was just some poor fool who was at the right place at the right time. You're the hope of the Shinobi World, the Child of the Prophecy, and you can bring peace to the world. You've already made me proud, and you only make me prouder, Naruto. Kushina and Jiraiya would be too. You're a real maelstrom, Naruto."

"Oh, Dad." Naruto trembled. He broke off the hug to swipe his eyes angrily, wiping the tears out of his eyes. He gave his father a thumbs up and a wide grin, which the older blonde returned. "You make this sound like a drama, dad. I already know all of this, old man. Just trust me. I'll get it done. After all, I'm your son."

Minato smiled proudly and brought his hands together in a series of hand seals. "Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)!" he cried out. And the two disappeared in a flash of golden light.

0o0o0

(Miles Away- The Valley of the End)

This was it. The Beginning of the End. The Final Stand. The forces of Light and Dark were at a standstill at the Valley of the End. How fitting.

Madara sneered down at the two shinobi who dared defy him: Uzumaki Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha. "Why do you two continue fighting?" he asked. "Resistance is futile. Both of you are centuries apart from reaching my strength. Just give up. The two of you are destined to fall by my hand, to die alone. Just Give Up."

Naruto stepped forward, his determined eyes blazing, "You should give up... on me giving up! I'm not giving in, I'm not alone! All of my friends, I can hear them, their hearts... they're all there cheering me on... They give me will to stand and fight! You, you have no companions, no one that stands beside you, YOU will be the one to die alone."

Sasuke smirked, "Hmph, the dobe says it all.".

"So be it."

Madara charged in, Sharingan eyes spinning wildly. He shot an armored leg toward Sasuke, who drew his kodachi to block the blow, while simultaneously whipping his Gunbai (War Fan) at Naruto , who clapped both of his hands together in front of himself in an attempt to catch the fan. While his hands managed to slow the fan's descent, the wind chakra pumped into it cut deep into Naruto's shoulder. Naruto hissed in pain and fell to his knees.

"Naruto!" Sasuke kicked Madara's leg away from himself and slashed upwards with his blade in order to dislodge the Gunbai. Naruto let out another grunt but the raven-haired Uchiha had not time to dote on his best friend's injury. This was a war.

"Weak, Weak WEAK!" Madara sneered. His leg caught Sasuke square in the chest and sent him flying to the wall of the valley. He swung his gaze to Naruto, who had done naught but hold his injured shoulder. "Do you understand now? How outclassed you are? Perhaps you need some more help comprehending our difference. Amaterasu (Heavenly Illumination)."

Black Flames sprung to life on Naruto's shoulder. The blond screamed in agony as the blaze began to eat away at his skin. To Madara's surprise however, he grit is teeth raised his hand and gripped the arm of Madara's that was holding the Gunbai. Giving a strained smirk through the pain, Naruto looked Madara in the eye.

"Boom."

The injured clone exploded, and combined with the hellfire of the Amaterasu, turned a larger than average explosion into a roaring mess from hell... literally. Madara's eyes widened and he jumped into the air, curling into a ball to reduce the amount of surface area exposed to the firestorm. Kage Bunshin, how he hated the jutsu. It was one of the most basic of jutsus, as long as the recipient had the required chakra, requiring only one hand seal. The created clone would then be a identical replica of the original body, down to the tenketsus and the chakra pathway system. Even the color of the chakra was the same, so the Sharingan was useless in differentiating them. He landed harshly on a branch protruding from the Valley of the End and winced at the burns on his back. However, he had no time to nurse his wounds and he quickly jumped of the branch and onto the water below just as Sasuke destroyed the platform he had been standing on before.

"Tch, almost had him that time." Sasuke spat. He pointed his Blade of Kusanagi at Madara and focused his chakra at the tip of it. "This time I won't miss. Chidori Eiso (One Thousand Birds Sharp Spear)!"

A concentrated beam of lightning formed on Sasuke's chokuto and shot toward Madara, who deflected it on his Gunbai and backpedalled a few steps.

"Fool, did you really think such a basic move would pierce me?" Madara gloated.

To his surprise, Sasuke smirked back at him, "No, but it served well to place you in position... fool."

Madara's enhanced eyes quickly scanned the area. '_Left, nothing. Right, nothing. Behind, no. Not even above. Where? Wait, fuc-'_

Sasuke smiled sadistically as a voice called from under Madara, "Below."

Madara looked under the surface of the water to see Naruto waving cheerfully up at him with a Fuuton: Rasengan (Wind Release: Spiraling Sphere) at the ready. "Arrogant, giving me a chance to escape. A rookie mistake." He tensed his legs, intent on jumping over the poorly prepared trap and attacking the Uchiha, when a great weight seemed to be placed on his right arm. "What?!" he cried out.

Seeing Madara temporarily immobilized, Naruto rushed upwards and drilled the Rasengan into Madara's torso. As Madara went flying, Naruto jumped after him and created about four clones. "Ha! You fell for it! Ready for a beatdown, Uzumaki style?"

The Uzumaki created four clones and each one kicked Madara upwards, exploding as their foot connected with the Uchiha. "U! Zu! Ma! Ki!" The final blow went to the original Naruto, who crashed his heel onto Madara's stomach and sending him crashing into the waters below. "HAHA Take that! Uzumaki Bakurendan (Uzumaki Explosion Combo)! How do you like them apples!?"

Unfortunately for Naruto, he got an answer. "They were a bit weak in taste, really. Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)."

A blue dragon with topaz eyes rose out of the water, with Madara at its head. The dragon rushed towards Naruto, who raised a readymade Rasengan to dispel the jutsu, but then made a sharp turn to rocket towards Sasuke. Cursing himself for being taken off-guard, Sasuke barely dodged the draconic bullet, with the dragon still taking a good chuck of his shirt.

Madara frowned down at Naruto and glanced at his wrist. Sure enough, there was a seal on his wrist. "Inryoku Fuin (Gravity Seal). When did yo- ah, I see, when the clone grabbed the wrist holding the gunbai. Ingenious, but how? I was under the impression that you were the only Uzumaki inproficient in Fuinjutsu (Sealing Techniques)."

Naruto grinned and closed his eyes giving himself a vulpine look, and scratched his head. "Just a little tidbit of what Ero-Sennin taught me for training." He cracked open his eyes, revealing cerulean irises and called to the demon inside him. '_Kurama, can you hear me? How's your chakra holding up? I know it took a lot out of you to fuel the members of the Allied Forces but I need your help.'_

Deep within Naruto's mindscape, the Kyuubi stood up, raring to go. **'Tch, don't group me together with you stamina-less humans, I'm more than ready! Hurry, I have a score to settle with this bastard.'**

'_Sorry, I forgot. We need to connect. Tailed Beast mode?'_

**'Hmph.'**

Madara frowned, the Uzumaki had grown still and the battle had come to a standstill. Even the younger Uchiha had stopped to gather his chakra. Ignorant saplings, this was a war. He would not give them the time to recover. Who did they think he was, Hashirama? Honor had no place in this war. Forming the water together into a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone), the Uchiha clan founder rushed towards the larger of the two threats, the Kyubi Jinchuriki, and the clone went after Sasuke. Madara cocked a fist back to crash into the Uzumaki's chin.

It was not to be.

Naruto disappeared in a golden blur and reappeared behind an unsuspecting Madara. He crashed a fist into the Uchiha's stomach and quickly kneed his face when the Uchiha doubled forward from the face. He went flying into the wall of the valley, creating another dent into the eroded wall. Similarly, Sasuke vanished in a flash of blue light and with one swift move, bifurcated the clone of Madara. The Uchiha flicked the water off the blade and sheathed it. He was cloaked in a layer of blue, crackling chakra. "Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Release Armor). Che, if only that was the real body."

Naruto flashed next to the stoic Uchiha. He was cloaked in layer of golden chakra, even his skin glowed with a golden pallor. He had materialized a coat unlike his sage coat, but this was made purely of chakra. He was covered in marking from head to toe that were eerily reminiscent of the late Rikudo Sennin. He scowled and faced the dent in the wall that Madara was surely buried in. It wasn't over. Far from it.

"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)!"

Madara's snarling visage broke the ground underneath their face and grabbed Naruto's leg. The blond winced as Madara strengthened his grip on the boy to allow no chance of escape. His bones creaked as the vice-like grip threatened to snap the ossein. Slowly, malevolent blue chakra enveloped Naruto's body and formed in the shape of a skeletal hand. Madara climbed out of his self-made hole and raised the blond up, choking him in the cocoon that was the Susano'o's fist. Madara smirked and raised his other hand, it too being wreathed with chakra. It began to crackled with black flames. The flames of the Amaterasu. Out of the corner of his eye, Madara saw Sasuke rushing to complete his own Susano'o (He With the Ability to Help by All Means) but there was no danger from him. The Uzumaki boy would be dead before he could retaliate. Perhaps the death of this one would weaken the Uchiha boy's mind enough for Madara to control him. He tilted his head minutely at a sudden influx of chakra to his right, but paid it no mind. It wasn't like anything could really hurt the great Madara. The Primordial Uchiha pounded the ethereal fist of Amaterasu his other hand, the one that held the Uzumaki captive, intent on vaporizing the annoying fly for good. The triumphant smirk on Madara's face lasted until right before the Susanoo's fist pounded Naruto into dust, where the blond gave a painful smirk, stuck his tongue out at the Uchiha, and burst into a puff of smoke.

"No!" Madara whirled around to face Sasuke and his complete Susano'o. Damn that Uzumaki. It was an ingenious plan to kawarimi with his own clone right before his own demise. His clone was an exact copy of him, right down the chakra pathway system, so it was a simple matter for the blonde to enact an escape. The Kawarimi was a basic technique used to switched places with another body of matter of similar mass as long as the object being switched was not alive, and a clone was the perfect body to do so with, seeing as it could act just like its creator but was not technically alive, being a construct of chakra. And now Madara had to deal with a charging Sasuke, fully clad in ethereal armor. Damnit, he had gotten cocky, ignoring the young Uchiha until the very end. Well, no matter, the grasshopper's Susano'o couldn't even compare to his own, fully formed or not. The Uchiha focused chakra to the skeletal chakra arms of the Susano'o, splitting them into four and creating skin. Azure flames seemed to envelop the hands and slowly began to form what looked like to be armor not unlike Madara's own. The older Uchiha smirked and clasped his hands into the _Mi_ seal, his other four chakra arms forming the _Tori_ and the _Hitsuji_ seal respectively, in order to activate one of Madara's strongest jutsus. "Tengai Shinsei (Heavenly Obstacle Quaking Star)!"

The clouds above Madara rumbled and began to disperse and a steadily increasing roar began to be heard. Sasuke grimaced, he had heard about the technique and it's unique ability to bring down a meteor from the heavens. He raised the chakra constructed arms of the Susano'o and created a chakra crossbow. Whatever Madara's gambit was, it would fail, his Kagutsuchi (Added Tool Earth Lord) would reach its intended target long before Madara's jutsu would reach its own. He took aim an arrow made of the purest, most concentrated flame he could create, the Amaterasu, and fired a barrage of them. "Here we go. Enton: Susanoo Cho Kagutsuchi (Blaze Release: He With the Ability to Help by All Means with the Ultra Added Tool Earth Lord)!" (what a funky translation, it's 100% correct though)

Madara sneered and crossed all four of his ethereal arms over his body to protect him from the oncoming rain of arrows. "Tch, fool, do you think such a basic techniques will ever pierce my Susano'o?"

Sasuke smirked back at his ancient ancestor, "Who said I was aiming for you?"

Madara gasped in surprise when the hail of black flame arrows all passed above his head, leaving him completely unharmed. The Uchiha whirled around, intent on destroying this new threat, but the cocooning of himself inside his own chakra dulled his movements.

"Futon: Rasenshurikan Rendan (Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken Combo)!"

A flurry of Narutos sprang up from underneath the water, all wielding the chakra constructed shuriken. The air was filled with a buzzing noise as the volatile wind chakra clashed against each other in the densely packed spheres. As one, the Naruto clones threw the orbs of wind. Madara cursed, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't stop the barrage, the most he could do was minimize the damage done by concentrating his Susano'o as far as it would allow. The barrage of Rasenshurikans met the oncoming hail of Amaterasu Arrows with a roar. To Madara's surprise, instead of one overcoming the other and canceling each other out, the Rasenshuriken drew on violent flames of the Amaterasu and began to glow a dull black. If he wasn't locked in battle, he would've have been impressed by the synchronicity of the two attacks. With dull booms drumming a beat in the desolate valley, each arrow met their partner and was absorbed to amplify the attack. And each one was headed toward Madara. Shit.

Madara growled, he couldn't let it end now. He had things to do, worlds to conquer! His scarlet eyes rippled into the pale indigo of the Rinnegan and he reached out both hands towards the heavens. "Bansho Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)!"

With a thunderous roar, the clouds in the sky parted to let through the two giant Meteorites. Two giant meteorites that Madara had pulled down from the vast reaches of space with his fearsome chakra. The projectile began to ignite with a glowing red flame as its entrance into the atmosphere, coupled with Madara's hastening of its fall through the Bansho Ten'in, caused the meteorite to heat up to an unearthly degree. Madara threw his head back and laughed, an insane gleam in his eye. It wasn't like he would die, he was Uchiha Madara, the perfect shinobi, second to only the Sage of Six Paths.

Naruto fell to his knees, his chakra exhausted by the awesome display of Rasenshurikens. "Sasuke!" He screamed. "Say the name of the jutsu!"

Sasuke's face burnt a light red, "I-I'm not saying such a stupid name!"

"Do it!"

"No!"

"It'll make the jutsu stronger!"

"Complete bullshit!"

"Together?"

"F-fine!"

His face blushing in embarrassment, Sasuke yelled, "Shakuton: Korin Shippu Shikkoku no Ya Zeroshiki Rendan (Scorch Release: Halo Gale Jet Black Arrow Style Zero Combo)!"

Naruto smiled and remained silent. A final prank, if you will. _'I'm not about to say such a stupid name.'_

0o0o0

(Miles Away – The Last Encampment of the Allied Shinobi Forces)

Minato sneezed.

"Are you alright sir?" one of the shinobi of the Alliance asked. He didn't recognize the young fellow as a Konoha nin, but then again, he was dead for the latter part of two decades.

"No, I'm fine. Someone must be talking about my incredible naming prowess."

0o0o0

The flaming meteorites met the salvo of black shurikens with a resounding crash. The stars didn't explode in a ball of wind natured chakra like normal, but just exploded in a maelstrom of hellfire and heat. Each one crashed into the meteors, surrounding the three combatants in a deluge of debris. Madara shielded his eyes out of sheer habit to protect the eyes that his brother had entrusted him, unnecessary as it was due to the Susano'o's protection.

Naruto took this chance to charge into the fray. As he ran, he summoned up the last of the chakra he could manage and flashed golden with the Tailed Beast Mode. With the dull drone of the Rasenshuriken enveloping the air around him. The Child of the prophecy rushed at Madara. Screaming at the top of his lungs, Naruto rushed in, hands firmly gripped on the Rasenshuriken as to allow Madara no chance to dodge. "IF THIS KILLS ME, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!"

And then everything went white.

0o0o0

(Miles Away – The Last Encampment of the Allied Shinobi Forces)

For a moment, everyone stopped what they had been doing, healing injured soldiers, mourning dead ones, as an ear-splitting pop of a blast engulfed everyone's senses for a heartbeat. To those that felt that one horrible blast, it seemed as if an exploding tag had gone off right next to their ears and eyes and miles away the sky exploded in flash of white.

It took several beats, but a horrid, sweltering wind blew downwind towards the Shinobi Encampment that brought dust and all sorts of earthly debris down on the weary soldiers. But that too, lasted just a moment, like some sort of nightmare, and the sky returned back into its normal gray. As the blast faded, the clouds began to gather overhead, and it began to rain all around, as if the heavens themselves were mourning some inexplicable sorrow.

The shinobi forces shook their heads and returned to their duties, wondering what that horrid feeling had been.

Minato looked up at the dreary sky, towards the Valley of the End, where he knew his son was fighting to end all fighting. To fulfill Jiraiya's ideal and end the Cycle of Hatred. He wished he could help, and it tore at his heart to admit it, but there was little he could do. "Son, just hold on a little bit longer. Help is on the way."

0o0o0

(Miles Away – Back at the Valley of the End)

Naruto was flung against the wall of the Valley, just as Madara was flung against the other wall. The only one left relatively unharmed in the monstrous blast was Uchiha Sasuke, who had retreated under the request of Naruto, who had wished for his friend's well-being more that his own. The Uchiha rushed towards the fallen Uzumaki. He was in a bad way, but even then, the blond was healing rapidly. The charred, black remains of the arm that held the last Rasenshurikan began to pale to a dull brown, to an angry red, and finally back to the light skinned tan that he had had. Sasuke smiled lightly and grasped Naruto's arm, propping the Uzumaki against his shoulder for support.

Naruto coughed harshly, dislodging the particles of dust that had been blocking his airway and rasped, "That was a bad idea… Hell, that was the worst idea in my whole life…"

Sasuke smirked and patted the Uzumaki on the shoulder with uncharacteristic warmth. "Hey, you're Konoha's Number One Unpredictable Ninja, What'd you expect?"

"**AHAHAHA. That was the greatest thing I've seen a human do in ages!**" The Kyubi cacked madly from inside Naruto's mindscape. "**Hashirama's thousand handed wood statue? BAH! Minato's Hiraishin? UGWAA! Not quite at the level of my own Bijudama, but hell gaki, damn nice try!** As the blast faded, the clouds began to gather overhead, and it began to rain all around, as if the sky itself was crying.

Naruto grunted painfully as he leaned in more towards Sasuke's shoulder to prop himself up. "What are you so excited about? No, you know what, don't tell me. I'd rather not know." He limped towards the depression in the Valley wall where Madara was imbedded. He smiled. It was over. The blond smiled and made to give Sasuke a fist bump when,

"Bansho Ten'in (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation)!"

Both he and Sasuke found themselves pulled, no hurled toward the direction of the crater, where Madara had his arms outstretched. His eyes had changed into the ripple-patterned ones of the Rinnegan. The Uchiha was in just as bad a shape as Naruto, even worse. The Uchiha's armor was gone now, and there was only a black cloth shirt that clung to Madara's form, and even that was ripped, revealing the face of Hashirama protruding from the Uchiha's chest. His body was mottled with burns and lacerations, and blood caked every surface of his skin. But even as the two watched, the injuries began to heal. Madara used Hashirama's legendary healing abilities for his own twisted cause. It took a lot out of the Uchiha, as it was not his own jutsu. In fact, this would be the only time he would properly be able to use it, or risk chakra exhaustion and be in the hands of these maggots. But this would have to do for now.

Thoroughly healed, The Uchiha punched both shinobi in the stomach and held each of them up by the throat. He slammed each of them into the wall even as his hands began to glow blue and began to drain their chakra. Both the Tailed Beast Mode and the Raiton no Yoroi began to flicker and then vanished as the two found themselves unable to maintain it due to a lack of chakra and a lack of oxygen. Naruto grasped Madara's arm and grappled with it weakly in an attempt to escape from the Uchiha's grip.

Damnit. All that he had done, was this how it was going to end? He had finally managed to unite the Shinobi Nations and the reconcile with his best friend. The former was more because of the threat of war, but still... Damnit. All his work, all of Jiraiya-sensei's work, and the world was always full of hatred, full of death. Damnit. The world began to dance with black spots and slowly, so very slowly, Naruto's vision began to darken. The last Uzumaki closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh, resigning himself to his fate. Maybe he'll even see his parents again.

"Gatenga! (Fang Rotating Fang!)"

Two buzzsaw-like shapes crashed into an unsuspecting Madara, forcing him to let go of his grip on Naruto and Sasuke. The buzzsaws unraveled and the two nins quickly picked up the two bodies and moved them to safety. "Are you two alright?!" Kiba shouted over the crashing of the waterfall, "The two of you look like you've gone through the grinder." The Kiba carrying Sasuke barked in agreement. Akamaru. He dropped the two of them off next to a fretting Sakura and Hinata, both of whom immediately began to channel medical chakra to their hands to heal the wounded shinobi. While the two recovered, Team Asuma stepped to the fore to combat the slightly disorientated and extremely furious Madara.

"Right, Ino-Shika-Cho!" Shikamaru shouted over to his teammates. "Formation 44!"

Choji grimaced. It seemed that Shikamaru was hellbent on using this Formation, no matter the end. "Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique)!" The big-boned Akimichi suddenly grew to near thrice his size and gave a giant thumbs up to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru nodded up to his companions and clasped his hands in a variation of the _Tora_ seal. "Kage Tsukami no Jutsu (Shadow Clutch Technique)!" Shikamaru's shadow slid out from under him and connected with Choji's now gargantuan shadow.

Ino grinned sadly and turned back to look at Naruto. "Now just stay there, Naruto. I'll show you how just how much better we are now." She clasped her hands in the _Hitsuji_ seal. "Kanchi Denden (Sensing Transmission)." She tapped Shikamaru in the back of the head in order for the three of them to share awareness' through the jutsu. Choji let out a short battle cry before crunching into a ball and barreling towards Madara, his normally uncontrolled ball of destruction now being controlled through the combined efforts of Shikamaru and Ino. "Nikudan Yōyō (Human Bullet Yoyo)!" the two cried out, the last of the trio being otherwise occupied. After all, he was literally a rolling ball of destruction.

Madara snarled and batted the ball away with naught but his fist, and quickly sent a Katon jutsu to incinerate the annoying pest. Unfortunately for the Uchiha patriarch, the sphere didn't stop its onslaught and began to turn around to hit him again, only this time, the ball was alight with scarlet flames. Madara cursed and jumped out of the way just before the ball imbedded itself inside the wall of the valley. Madara took the small window of opportunity he had while Choji was busy trying to dislodge himself from the wall to rush towards a defenseless Shikamaru and Ino. He smirked maliciously and his arm began to crackle with compressed electricity, the Chidori (One Thousand Birds).

With a strangled gasp, Naruto rushed forward. He had been watching the battle helplessly as Hinata was healing him. He was torn between two emotions: pride and worry. Pride at the growth of his fellow ninja, his friends, and worry about their safety. And it seemed that he had been right to worry. Hinata and Sakura turned away, unable to watch their best of friends be cut down. It would not do for a kunoichi to lose her composure in battle, that was one of the Academy's basic lessons. Next to him, Sasuke growled in anger at the use of his jutsu for such a twisted cause, but he did not move. No, he could not move and he knew it, so he remained still, his gaze locked on the final stand of the second Ino-Shika-Cho Trio. It was his method of paying his respects, he would watch this final scene to the bitter end. Naruto had no such qualms. He stumbled forward, limping as he did so, hoping against hope that he would be in time, that he would be able to save them.

But he was too slow, and he knew it.

With a wet squelch, Madara's arms impaled themselves into the chests of Shikamaru and Ino. Both coughed out blood and under them, their legs gave out, unable to hold the weight of their bodies any longer. Only the blood-caked hands of Uchiha Madara held them aloft. Behind the twisted Uchiha, Choji cried out, his tears streaming down his face as he stumbled toward the direction of his dearest friends, unwilling to believe this horrible situation. He shouldn't have been surprised. After all, this was the whole point of this final plan, but that didn't make the pain any more bearable. He tripped and stumbled to his knees, still reaching out towards the impaled bodies of his comrades.

Shikamaru coughed, more blood spilling out from his lips before he smirked weakly. "Just as planned." he said weakly. He shakily put his hands together in the _Ne _seal to release the first jutsu he had learned as a Nara, and the last jutsu he would ever complete. "K-Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Technique)." The young Nara's shadow stretched towards Madara's own, holding the primordial Uchiha in place.

Ino smiled as well, her tears now falling freely down her pale face. She let out a weak laugh and looked down at the Uchiha's hand impaled in her breast. "Madara, y-you pervert, t-touching a girl's boob like that. Y-you b-better take responsibility." she let out weakly, still attempting to lighten the crushingly depressing mood for the other shinobi. She, like Shikamaru, clasped her hands together for her final jutsu. "H-here we go... S-Shinranshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Disturbance Technique)." Madara's body stiffened as Ino's technique layered over Shikamaru's own, effectively paralyzing him. The Yamanaka wet her lips and with great effort, shouted, "Formation 44 complete! Kiba, Shino, now!"

"Jinjū Kongō Henge: Santōrō (Human Beast Mixture Transformation: Three-Headed Wolf)! This is for you guys! Ooiga Gatenga (Tail Chasing Fang, Fang Rotating Fang)!" Kiba created a kage bunshin to join his own form and Akamaru's transformed one. The three burst into a giant cloud of smoke. A roar broke through the valley and a giant three-headed wolf rushed at the paralyzed Uchiha. The giant wolf began to twist its body in what looked like an attempt to chase its own tail. As it did so, the hair of the wolf began to harden into lethal spikes and the wolf took on a buzzsaw-like shape.

A giant buzzsaw slammed into Madara's paralyzed body, ripping apart his armor and mauling the Uchiha's skin. As the giant three headed wolf continued to lacerate the primordial Uchiha, Shino ran up in front of the Uchiha and quickly but gently removed Ino's and Shikamaru's bodies, who had somehow survived Kiba's onslaught without any major marring. Bodies secure, Shino clapped his hands together and slammed it against the ground, his face twisted in pain and tears streaming down his face, an uncharacteristic display of emotion. "Kidaichu Mushikui (Parasitic Giant Insect Bug Bite)!" A torrent of kikaichu rushed towards Madara and began to cover his body. The Uchiha began to scream as the Kikaichu began to grow inside of his body while devouring both his flesh and his chakra. Shino let out a bitter chuckle when he remembering Ino's disgusted expression the first time he used the jutsu in front of her. After what seemed like ages, the kikaichu returned to Shino's body and the three-headed wolf dispersed to reveal a panting Kiba and Akamaru. Madara's body was naught but a splotch of blood on the ground. The absence of his armor and the protection given by the ethereal Susano'o left Madara relatively useless as far as defense went, given that he couldn't even defend himself, because of Shikamaru's and Ino's final jutsus.

Shikamaru watched with blurred eyes. It was over. Finally over.

Shino looked down at Shikamaru's tearstained face. Why? It was illogical for someone to kill themselves. It wasn't worth it. The sorrow on the survivors wasn't worth it. "Was it worth it? Sacrificing yourself? Why? Who was it for?" Shino vaguely felt a spark of chakra to his right, but he paid it no mind.

"The king." Shikamaru rasped, his breath coming in shallow heaves now.

"The king? Who's that?"

0o0o0

_Shikamaru stared at Sarutobi Asuma's grave, his fingers limply holding a pair of white chrysanthemums. It was at times like these that he thought about his late teacher and the final lesson that he had taught him. _

_(Years before - Nara Compound)_

_"Ah Damnit, you beat me again!" Asuma said, scratching the back of his head in mild embarrassment and confusion at being beat so soundly by his pupil. "How do you do that anyway?"_

_Shikamaru shrugged and yawned. _

_Asuma pouted, he doubted he would ever get an answer. He suddenly smiled widely and pointed to the pieces on the shogi board, cause Shikamaru to crack and eye open in mild surprise. "Ne, Shikamaru. Let me ask you a question."_

_"Shoot."_

_"What would you be if you were a shogi piece?"_

_Shikamaru frowned. The knights were knights. The pawns were pawns. That was that. No questions asked._

_Asuma laughed at Shikamaru's stumped expression. He didn't get to see that often. "Let me tell you." He pointed to a knight on the board. "You would be a knight. Your keen intellect and your adaptability is like the knight's unique ability to jump over other pieces to move forward."_

_Shikamaru nodded. That made sense. "Then what would you be Asuma-sensei?"_

_Asuma laughed again and scratched the back of his head. "Me? I'd be a little pawn. I'm replaceable." His smile grew a little melancholy. Only a little bit, barely even perceptible, but enough for Shikamaru to take notice. "Then, Shika... What does the King represent?"_

_Shikamaru furrowed his brow in thought. Damn these philosophy questions, they were never his forte. "The Hokage? It's the most important piece."_

_Asuma shook his head. "Ah ah." He smiled when he saw Shikamaru about to ask the obvious question: 'Then who is it?' "You'll find out later on. It'll come to you"._

_0o0o0_

_(Months after Asuma's death - Nara Compound)_

_"Hey dad." Shikamaru asked. He moved a pawn of his own to counter his dad's silver general. "Do you know what the king represents?"_

_Shikaku frowned then moved a knight of his own to take the pawn behind the one Shikamaru had moved. "No. Enlighten me. But only after I win. Checkmate."_

_"Ah! Damnit, how troublesome._

_Well, dad. The king is..."_

0o0o0

"...the children. The unborn children who will one day take care of the leaf. The future of Konoha, of our world." Shikamaru let out a shuddering breath and grew still, his keen eyes staring out into the great void. Shino let out a sigh and closed Shikamaru's eyes for him.

'_I understand._'

"It's over..." Kiba panted. "It's... it's finally over!" he cried. He jumped up and hugged Akamaru. It was finally over. The Fourth Shinobi War. It was like a dream.

"No!" Naruto ignored the screams of his muscles and forced his body into Tailed Beast Mode once more. He vanished in a flash of golden light just in time... to watch Shino jump in to block the sideways blow of the Gunbai.

"Izanagi."

The fan cut deep into Shino's shoulder and the Aburame let out a grunt of pain. The stoic bug-user grit his teeth even blood seeped from the grievous wound, staining the green of the flak jacket. He gripped Madara's wrist, the one that held the Gunbai fan, tightly, not letting go, even as the act of tensing his muscles caused another spray of blood to erupt from his side.

Madara sneered at the Aburame even as one of his eyes turned dull and lifeless, the cost of using Izanagi. Izanagi, the technique that allows one to change destiny, to even escape death. An completely hack and completely illogical jutsu, if Shino ever saw one. Still though, such was life, and if he was going to die now, he was going to go down fighting. Just like Ino and Shikamaru.

Shino growled and tightened his grip still on Madara, surreptitiously sending a kikaichu toward the devastated Kiba. It relayed Shino's final plans and his will to his best friend. He then sent a few kikaichu under the twisted Uchiha's skin and into the bloodstream, taking care not to garner attention.

Madara sneered in an Uchiha-like manner. "Why do you continue, Aburame? Your clan was always the most wise, the most logical. You did not rule by the emotions, but by the mind. This battle is futile, but I am not without mercy. Surrender and I will spare your life, boy."

Shino choked up some more blood as he stubbornly held on to consciousness. It wouldn't do for him to give in now. It was simply... illogical. "I continue because of my friendship with my fellow shinobi. Why you ask? Because that friendship pushes me to greater and greater heights. I will flawlessly support Naruto with my ninjutsu. Why you ask? Because... There is no need for a reason!" He drew Madara into a tight embrace, pinning the Uchiha's arm to his side. There would only be a split second's chance, but enough. "Now Kiba!

But Kiba didn't move.

Tears streaming down the Inuzuka's face, he shook his head violently. "No! I can't. How am I supposed to kill my best friend? Shikamaru's death was hard enough to bear, and I wasn't even the one that killed them. How can I? You can't die Shino! The times together with Hinata, the fireworks every year on New Years, the annual visit to the Sandaime's grave, daily visits to Kurenai-sensei to see her baby, are you going to throw that all away?" He shook his head, tears pouring down his face. "I can't."

Shino sighed and closed his eyes. He had miscalculated. It wasn't Kiba's fault he was so emotional. He was an Inuzuka and was loyal to a fault. A fatal fault. "This isn't for me. It's for the future. The kings of the future generation. The ones who will inherit the Will of F-"

A hand pierced through Shino's chest, stopping his monologue, and continued to pierce Madara's. The Aburame shakily turned his head to see Hinata's tearstreaked face staring back at him through his dark sunglasses. He smiled. "Thanks." She shook her head, her lavender eyes haunted with grief.

"Don't. This wasn't the way it should have ended. But I'll carry on your last wish." She moved into the tradition Juken(Gentle Fist) stance with her hands still buried in Shino's right breast (Since shino's hugging Madara, piercing the right breast would hit Madara's left, which is where the heart is.). The Hyuga had sealed the technique away and made it forbidden. They said it was forbidden, that it was twisted jutsu, used to torture instead of defeat, but there was no choice. "Juken Hijutsu: Hakke Sanbyakurokuju Isshiki (Gentle Fist Secret Technique: Eight Trigrams Three Hundred One Style."

The Hyuga heiress' hands began to move in a blur, slowly building up speed and methodically targeting each of Madara's tenketsu through the shield that was Shino's body.

"Two." She targeted the two beside each kidney, dehabilitating the Uchiha's movement. It wouldn't stop him, but it would cause him great pain.

"Four." Next were the four that lined the shoulder. That would stop him from making any jutsu to counter her onslaught. Tears fell through her lavender orbs, distorting her vision, but it made no difference. The Byakugan saw through chakra, and it wouldn't be distorted by tears.

"Eight." By this time, Hinata began to compress as much chakra she could into a single pressurized point. This wouldn't close the tenketsu. It would pulverize it. Shino grit his teeth in pain as each blow hit home. It didn't close his own tenketsu, everyone had different locations, but it sure as hell hurt. And he sure as hell wouldn't survive it either.

"Sixteen." She began to move down his body, destroying the tenketsus in the leg to stop the Uchiha from moving. The air began to be filled with buzzing as the kikaichu attempted to flee from the onslaught that had already killed dozens of their brethren, but there was no escape.

"Thirty-two." Sakura turned away even as Sasuke looked on, captivated and horrified by the Hyuga's final jutsu. Naruto couldn't believe it. Was this really Hinata? The shy, and soft-spoken girl from before? No. Not anymore. That girl had grown up. She was shinobi now, and a shinobi was a job that required blood-soaked hands. And blood flew as Hinata's shot to tenketsu to tenketsu, in desperate, grim hope that this would end it all. Madara couldn't use Izanagi, his love of his eyes wouldn't have allowed it. The fear of being blind was strongest in Uchiha and it held priorities over other fears. This would end it. Right?

"Sixty-four." Hinata's hands shook, and her legs creaked and threatened to break. This was her limit, she had never gotten as far before, and it was taking a toll on her body. She was hurting. Emotionally, Mentally, Physically. Such were the toils of war, and war held no mercy. And anyway, this wasn't for her. This was for the future and the past. The children to inherit the Will of Fire, and the dead who had fought to protect it. She couldn't fall now, she wouldn't allow it. She grit her teeth, and took another step, ignoring the screams of her muscles. She forced her mind into a calm, focusing only on the remaining 297 tenketsu. And struck once more.

"One Twenty- Eight." A lull came over her, as if she was in a trance. It was like she had a different perception of time. The powers of the Byakugan allowed her to see Kiba's devastated screams. In slow motion. She saw Shino's pain-filled face. And felt nothing. She reached out and destroyed another tenketsu. There was no time for emotions, she could mourn later.

"Two Fifty-Six." With a sickening snap, her right leg gave way to the stress and broke. It bent at an unnatural angle and hung uselessly. But Hinata didn't stop. She couldn't. To stop would mean to admit defeat. And here, against Madara, defeat meant death. She was almost there. She could taste victory. She could almost feel the taste of iron on her tongue as her enemy fell before here. Wait, what?

No!

NO!

With a shuddering gasp, she jerked away from Madara and fell to her knees, clutching her head in her hands. What had happened? What was she about to do? She recalled it all, in horrifying clarity. The mangled body of Shino, as unrecognizable as Madara's had been before the Izanagi. Her cold, emotionless look as she her hand sunk into the warm flesh of her comrade to destory another tenketsu. Her uncaring glance at Kiba as the Inuzuka screamed in unsuppressed horror. What was wrong with her? She threw up into the river, the bile mixing into the blue water in the Valley of the End.

Madara laughed. His body disappeared and reformed in front of the broken form of the Hyuga, completely unharmed. His other eye darkened and grew dull, but it was a necessary risk. After all, he could always tear the eyes from the other Uchiha in the end. He knelt down in front of the Hyuga Heiress and jerked her chin up for her to stare into his shattered eyes. "Foolish girl. You didn't know why that jutsu was forbidden was it? Why the Hyuga sealed it away?" He smiled madly, his dark eyes staring into nothing. "It was because it couldn't be controlled. The Hakke Sanbyakurokujū Isshiki requires full use and concentration on the Byakugan and forces the user to enter a state of nothingness. To destroy a person's life, one tenketsu by another, the user must enter a state of opposites. Where the victim is paralyzed, the user moves with ever growing speed. Where the victim is dying, the user feels more alive than ever." His smile grew. "Where the victim is full of desperate fear, the user is full of solemn elation. The Byakugan evolved from the Sharingan. It too continues the Cycle of Hatred, no matter how diluted." Hinata shuddered, and Madara laughed darkly. "Are you feeling the after effects? The cost of the jutsu is terrible, more so than the Izanagi. The cost is death or insanity. There is no third choice." He stood up and laughed uproariously. Hinata shuddered and slumped to the side. Her eyes rolled back to the back of her head, and her breaths came in labored pants. Until finally, they stopped.

"Do you understand now? How hopeless it is? How outmatched you are?"

Sasuke stood up and tread towards Madara, stepping over Hinata's corpse as the madman continued to rant. There was no reason to fear now. The great Madara had lost his Sharingan, so there was no Susano'o, no Amaterasu, no Tsukuyomi, and most importantly, no Izanagi. He raised his hands for his final attack, focusing his chakra.

Dense clouds had already gathered from the fluctuating temperatures of the battle. The cold rainy climate had clashed with the heat of the Amaterasu and created dense cumulonimbus clouds. This was his chance, and most likely his last one. He motioned for Naruto to join him and the blond did quietly. The last Uchiha told him his plan and the Uzumaki nodded grimly. At least this way, the two would go together.

Naruto formed seven clones and sent each in pairs to the North, the South, and the East. He and a clone stayed in the West with Sasuke. He nodded and simultaniously, all the clones began to create a Rasenshuriken in their hands. One clone holding it and forming the shape manipulation, and the other controlling the nature manipulation. The sound of buzzing filled the air, and Madara cut off his speech mid-rant. He whirled around, but without his eyes, he couldn't make out where the true attack was coming from. The buzzing came from all directions, and his sense of smell wasn't enough to differentiate them.

Naruto and all of his clones flashed into Tailed Beast Mode for the last time and raised his own Rasenshuriken. He allowed all of the chakra he could to cram into the jutsu and still have it remain stable and raised it above his. It was many times larger than its other three brothers, and its buzzing was much louder, but Naruto threw it quickly, much too quickly for the primordial Uchiha to locate him.

"Futon: Cho Oodama Rasenshuriken (Wind Release: Ultra Big-ball Spiraling Shuriken)!" all of the clones shouted together.

Sasuke raised his hands and brought down his strongest jutsu by far. The gaping maw of a dragon descended from the heavens. It was made completely of lightning and had red eyes with black sclera. It was many sizes bigger than even the Cho Oodama Rasenshuriken. And bigger was better. Sasuke directed it and it shot toward its target.

The Rasenshuriken.

The giant dragon took the Rasenshuriken in its mouth and swallowed mightily. It's form began to shift and change, and it began to shrink to barely the size of Gamakichi before his growth. It now resembled a Eastern Oriental Dragon, complete with a swirling, ethereal pearl it its maw. The pearl crackled compressed energy, and the dragon was made of pure plasma. Small sparks erupted from its body and slowly trailed down towards the water as it circled overhead Madara.

0o0o0

_(Approximately two years after Sasuke's defection from Konoha - Orochimaru's Lair)_

_"Sasuke" the Snake Sannin hissed. "Do you know of elemental affinities?"_

_"Hn." the Uchiha grunted. Of course he did, who did the snake think he was._

_The Sannin flicked a piece of paper at Sasuke, who swiftly caught it. "I am sure you have a Fire Affinity. Most Uchiha do. But you are special, I believe you have a second affinity. Your brother certainly did. His was water, which matched his cool and tranquil composure."_

_Sasuke grit his teeth and ignored the reminder of his hated brother and focused his chakra into the piece of paper, which promply crinkled itself into pieces. Orochimaru's eyes widened, if the boy had such potent chakra that the paper actually ripped, then he must have a powerful affinity to the element. "Excellent. Yours is lightning. The fastest element, the piercing element. It fits you."_

_"Hn."_

_Orochimaru smiled a little as he leaned in towards Sasuke. "You know Sasuke, The Naruto boy has a wind element, I hear."_

_The Uchiha raised his head a little. "And why does that matter? Lightning is weak against Wind, but my Fire affinity and break Naruto's wind."_

_The Snake Sannin shook his head. "You think too simply, too much like a loner, little Sasuke. The only element that can save a weakening gale and give it strength... is Lightning."_

_"Tch. As if I would want to help the dobe."_

0o0o0

'_I'm glad... that I was able to help you, Naruto.'_

The dragon shot toward Madara, with a loud roar that belied its small size. Madara growled and jumped away from it. Only an idiot wouldn't have been able to sense the massive amounts of chakra contained in the small beast. He would just have to avoid it and that was that.

He didn't expect Sasuke.

The younger Uchiha threw his chokuto at the elder Uchiha. Madara, in his attempt to escape the strange new jutsu, moved right into the path of the sword. With a wet squelch, the sword dug deep into the Uchiha's flesh, hindering any further movement.

With a loud battle cry, Naruto ran to the fore, his hands reached out to recieve the chakra dragon and direct it to its just target. Madara. Sasuke smirked and joined the blonde in the final rush. With a hand each, the Uzumaki with his right and the Uchiha with his left, the two guided the dragon toward Madara. With a shrill screech, as if sensing their master's determination, the dragon curled in on itself and bit its own tail. An ouroboros. The sign of cyclicality, the sign of rebirth. Only this Ouroboros was to break the cycle.

With a roar, the two shoved the ouroboros into Madara's stomach.

"Myoton: Enzo-ryu no Owaru (Miracle Release: Spiral Dragon of the End)."

The eyes of the ouroboros widened to almost comical sizes and it began to swell up. With a grunt, Sasuke gripped Naruto's wrist and kicked him away from the dragon. Naruto gasped as he felt himself flying through the air away from the oncoming blast. Flying away. And leaving Sasuke to his death.

"SASUKE!" The Uzumaki yelled, straining his arm desperately at the Uchiha. He struggled all he could, but he couldn't change trajectory in midair. He was forced to watch. Sasuke looked back at Naruto.

And smiled. His first real, true, heart-felt smile.

And the world exploded in a flash of white. Again.

0o0o0

(Miles Away - Allied Shinobi Forces Encampment)

Minato stood looking into the direction of the Valley of the End even as his form began to disperse into dust and ash. He paid no attention to his deteriorating form, only on the battle that was sure to be raging on in the Valley of the End.

**Crack!**

With wide eyes, the Yondaime Hokage looked at the Hiraishin Kunai that he held in his hand. There was a large crack running down the length of the three-pronged blade, splitting the wood of the handle and disfiguring the seal on it. Minato frowned. He wasn't one for superstitions, but the omen still worried him.

He wasn't going to around to worry though. With a clatter, the kunai fell to the rock floor as the deterioration moved upwards. Minato gave a weary sigh and smiled toward the direction of the Valley of the End. "There's no need to worry. I'll trust in you, my son."

Slowly, the decay reach his face and one eye was lost to the wind as the Edo Tensei Hokage began to be claimed by the earth again, leaving only his sun-kissed hair and one cerulean eye.

And then even that small piece of him disappeared.

0o0o0

And then the dragon exploded, sending blades of wind and crescents of lighting arcing away, slamming into the bodies of Sasuke and Madara. Where the blades of opposing elements met, they erupted in a fiery explosion far bigger than it should have been. A stray blade caught Naruto's side in a spray of blood, cutting deep into the boy's lung.

Then, the blades of wind and lightning imbedded in Sasuke and Madara erupted into an explosion as one.

Naruto was flung against the wall of the valley. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kiba dragging Sakura to safety, both of their visages stained with tears. He gave a grateful nod to Kiba -_Thanks for saving her_- who returned the nod shakily. Then, Naruto's world went black as unconsciousness claimed him.

0o0o0

Naruto blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to restore his vision and looked across at the ruined landscape in front of him. His ears still rang from the explosion and his eyes still danced with black spots wherever he looked. He hissed in pain and put a shaking hand on his side, which was stained with red. He couldn't bring himself to look at the injury but he knew it grievous, if the flesh he felt, or lack thereof, was any indication. Still though, the Child of the Prophecy stood up shakily, and began to walk towards the apex of the huge crater. He stumbled forward, almost losing his balance and tumbling into the unforgiving rocks, but righted himself. This was the end, and he was going to see it through, injury or not.

Naruto blinked his eyes rapidly again and looked into the center of the crater. His breath hitched painfully in his punctured lungs. There, imbedded in the center of the crater, was a twisted piece of melted metal, Sasuke's sword of Kusanagi.

He sighed heavily as his vision blurred, and he fell to his knees. There was no more. This was the end, but the cost had been far, far too high. The highest cost of all: the cost of blood. Naruto panned the ruined battlefield to spot his friends, or what remained of them. There was Ino and Shikamaru, their dead bodies protected by Choji's larger one, who had sacrificed his life from Naruto's final attack just to keep theirs from being defiled. There was Shino, his mangled body and blood slowly being washed away by the current of the river. There was Hinata, her death was possibly the most gruesome, dying through mental and emotional scars, being tortured by the guilt of killing a comrade. Then there was Sasuke. His best friend, his worst enemy. But he too had redeemed himself in the end.

Naruto heaved another sigh and made his way towards his prone body and clutched his lifeless hand. "It's alright." he said to his best friend, though he knew his words didn't reach him. They sounded hollow, even to himself. "There are so many things that I never got to tell you. You know Ero-Sennin once told me, 'Its not about the amount if time spent cherishing eachother that matters. No matter how long you two grow to hate eachother, despise one another, deep down, you're still best friends.' " A single tear slid down his whiskered cheeks and he looked up at the sky. "I'm glad we're friends."

He collapsed next to the dead Uchiha, his cerulean eyes looking up at the gloomy sky. "I'm going home, my friend... To the never-ending sky.

And he closed his eyes. Never to open them again.

* * *

**Finé!**

**So vote on the poll. Sakura is already out, nobody voted on pinky... so right now it's any combo of the three. Go vote, I need your opinion for the next chapter.**

**I feel Sasuke was a bit OOC here, but well shit. It wasn't that much and we all wish Sasuke didn't have such a stick up his ass.**

**Madara was a bit more crazy towards the end then I would've liked. But that face he made in canon when he felt Hashirama's chakra was just freaky. And I think it suits the story better this way. Too bad we'll never see him again. Or will we?**

**I know I'll get flames for Hinata's final jutsu that killed her. And I deserve it. I don't even know how that came out, it just did (kindof a badass ending though... right?). Not much is known of the 361 Palms (its only ever shown in the game), so I gave it a backstory. It'll probably rear its head soon, as soon as I can communicate with my muse to strangle it and wrench the idea out of it. Cause I have no idea why I did it. I love Hinata. Honest! **

**Kudos the Evil Authorlord (S'tarkan) and Kenchi618 of whose stories I read over and over to get the battle scenes right.**

**I'll probably never have such a sad and drama packed chapter again until the climax of the story. Or maybe not, if I can get my mediocre writing up to scratch.**

**Check my Profile for more info on story.**

For the Ino-Shika-Cho death four sounds similar to the kanji for death, for 44 is DeathDeath, symbolizing Inos and Shikamaru's sacrifice.

For those that have read before, I changed the ending paragraph without the NaruHina moment, cause y'all were complaining.

**Review!**


	2. Reborn

Chapter 2: Reborn

Disclaimer: I don't own shit. In fact, I'm in the hospital, so I don't even own myself. Happy?

You are?

Great, that makes my day.

**Sorry guys, I would've had this chapter out four days ago, back-to-back chapters like I did for Blade of Emptiness, Maelstrom of Honor, but I ran into a dilemma. So now, I'm currently in the hospital with an IV shoved up my arm and an eye that looks like it came out of a fight with Kenchi618 (check his profile, he beat a state-ranked wrestler blindfolded). It's apparently Shingles, which I thought only old people got, but I'm just really unlucky. So sorry for the delay, hope you can forgive me. If you can't, well then fuck you, you're a heartless bastard. Oh the things I do for you people. **

**Review Responses? Nah, I'll PM you if I haven't already if you've asked questions or gave suggestions. If there's a guest response, I'll do it next chapter, I'm sick, I don't care right now. Plus, I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible. **

**This is a rather peaceful chapter, setting up the mood. You'll see who goes to Fiore, though by now its pretty obvious. Enjoy!**

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto awoke to find himself floating in nothingness. There was nothing around him except for white and more white. He rubbed his eyes vigorously as to dispel any hallucinations he may have been seeing because of his fatigue. Nope, it was still there. Nothing, that is. He flapped his arms back and forth like some demented bird, but he couldn't tell whether or not he was moving because of the uniformity of his surroundings.

Wait, what was that?

In front of him, deep in the distance, shone a soft, golden light. It was inviting and unconsciously, the blonde began to float towards it. That is of course, until he realized that the light was getting closer and closer.

"Oh hell no. I'm not going into the light. Ero-sennin always told me to stay away from it if I saw it during training, and I'm not about to move toward it now." He backpedalled furiously away from the oncoming light. He was Uzumaki Naruto, he wasn't going to go out like this. He turned around and scrabbled away as fast as he could. Until he tripped over a body.

"Sasuke!" he yelled in surprise. The Uchiha was lying horizontally on the air, looking completely at ease, as if asleep. There were no marks or wounds on his person, like he hadn't just come out of a life-threatening battle with a madman. Come to think of it, his own orange and black jacket was completely restored, without the various cuts and gashes in it. How curious.

The Uchiha groaned and attempted to push himself up, not realizing there were floating on thin air and flipped around with a yelp. Naruto let out a chuckle and stopped his erratic spins. "Naruto?" Sasuke asked uncertainly.

"The one and only!" he declared, thumping a fist against his chest proudly. The Uchiha stared at the blond for a moment before smashing his fist against Naruto's cheek. The Uzumaki floated backwards a few paces and his hands flew up to clutch the injury. He stared at the Uchiha in disbelief. What had brought that on?

"Oi, teme, what the hell?" Naruto said, backpedalling furiously in the other direction, away from the steadily approaching Uchiha with a dangerous gleam in his obsidian eyes. "What'd I do?"

Sasuke cracked his knuckles menacingly, completely out of tune with his stoic character, and growled, "You have the nerve to ask? I freaking sacrificed myself so that you could live and you go ahead and die?" The Uchiha messed up his hair in frustration, making his "duck butt" point up even further. "Nothing ever goes as planned with you!" he accused. "Why do you have to be so.. so... so freaking unpredictable!"

Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, it was a habitual response to whenever he was embarrassed. "Ah... well, you see..."

Said blond never got to finish his sentence when his vision began to turn yellow. He whirled around to find the golden light right in front of him. It was too late to turn back, and there was no escape, seeing how there weren't any sort of foothold or handhold to push off of. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as the blond's body seemed to melt into the source of light, and he quickly floated forward to grasp the quickly disappearing Naruto.

"God damnit, Sasuke! You just had to distract me!" the blond yelled. "I swear, if I die, I'll haunt you forev- mmrph!" The head of the blond completely melting into the golden light, which the Uchiha could see was a portal of some sort, leaving only a writhing hand moving back and forth erratically.

'_But... you're already dead...'_ the Uchiha thought with a sigh and a shake of his head at his best friend's stupidity. He watched as even Naruto's hand was enveloped by the light, leaving only him. And then there was one.

Sasuke sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. Why him? It was a miracle that Naruto managed to survive for this long without him, and the blond failed to do even that in the end. "Sigh, I might as well follow him." Sasuke moved towards the soft orb of light and watched with curiosity as his hand seemed to disperse and be absorbed . _'Intriguing.'_

And then there were none.

0o0o0

"_Naruto? Naruto! Wake up!"_

"Urgh." Naruto opened his eyes fractionally and shut them immediately when he was hit by a bright light. He cracked open one eye to see the two blurry figures. The one on the left had sun-kissed blond hair and tanned skin while the one on the right had exotically colored hair. Was that red, or pink? "Sakura-chan? Baa-chan?"

He saw the one of the right stiffen, in surprise or anger he didn't know, but he paid it no mind. It was anger.

"Who's an baa-chan?! I'm still in my thirties, 'dattebane!" A fist smashed onto Naruto's unsuspecting face, sending him careening away before he was caught by two firm arms.

"Now now, Kushina." The person who stopped him from flying away laughed in a reassuring manner. "I'm sure he didn't mean that, he probably mistook my blond hair for Tsunade-sama." the voice chuckled.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. He knew those voices! The blond whirled around, breaking the man's grasp on him and promptly hugged him. "Dad?"

(Cue Music - Naruto - Thank You)

"Yeah, son. It's me." The fourth Hokage's eyes softened as his arms came up to embrace his son, softly caressing the boy's blond hair that was so similar to his own.

Suddenly, both the father and son stiffened when they felt an overwhelming amount of killing intent smothering them. Naruto slowly and fearfully turned around to find his mother glaring at the two of them, in all her righteous anger. Her crimson hair whipped around her lithe frame as if being blown around by some nonexistent wind and her eyes glowed with the promise of a painful death. "**Naruto-chan?**" she said sweetly, which caused both males in the family to wince, Naruto in fear and Minato in sympathy. "**Why'd you hug your father before me?**"

Naruto glanced up at his father, who gently pushed him towards his jealous mother. He took a hesitant step forward, fearing the Red-Hot Habanero's wrath (who wouldn't), but then threw caution to the winds and jumped into his mother's waiting arms. "Mom." He whispered, clutching her like she was his lifeline. "I've missed you."

"Yeah, I did too." Her bloodlust vanished and was replaced by motherly concern and love just as potent. She patted her son's back gently and stuck her tongue out at Minato, who chuckled lightly. "I'm proud of you, 'ttebane"

Naruto just clutched her harder, reluctant to let his mother go. It was only his second time seeing her in sixteen years, could you blame him?

"Hey now, let's go say hi to that friend of yours." Kushina said softly, pointing to where Sasuke was fidgeting nervously, uncomfortable with the amount of affection bouncing around.

Naruto raised his head out of his mother's embrace and looked in the direction that she was pointing. "Sasuke!"

Kushina's eyes lit up and she rushed over to the Uchiha's side, "Sasuke?" She poked and prodded the raven-haired boy and stretched his cheek like an over-enthusiastic aunt. "Mikoto-nee's baby boy? What a bishounen you are!" She stopped pulling on Sasuke's cheek to look over his shoulder, "Where's Mikoto-nee and little Ita-chibi?"

Naruto gave a little spit-take at Itachi's nickname and Sasuke gave a sad smile. "I don't know, Ms. Uzumaki. They didn't come." he said sadly. Behind him, golden light began to solidify and take the shape of three familiar silhouettes.

Minato stepped forward and placed a hand on the uncomfortable Uchiha. "Who's that behind you then?"

Sasuke whirled around and was met by a flick to the forehead. "Yuruse, Sasuke. Osokunatte gomen nasai (Forgive me, Sasuke. Sorry I'm late)."

Sasuke's wide eyes met Itachi's smiling eyes and he glomped his older sibling in a bear hug. "I'm sorry Itachi. Sorry for being so selfish. Sorry for not listening to you. Sorry for putting you through so much pain." Itachi smiled and patted Sasuke on the back gently while Fugaku and Mikoto encircled him and joined the hug.

"There's nothing to forgive Sasuke." Itachi said softly. "I did it to protect you, because I wanted to. That's what older brothers are for, right?"

There was a moment of silence as Sasuke drank in the love and compassion exuded by his brother and parents. How long had it been since he had felt this kind of happiness, this kind of solace? He leaned into his brother's hug, all insecurities lost in the loving embrace. "Yeah..."

"This is so touching! Group hug, 'ttebane!" Kushina cried, and promptly attacked Sasuke's mother, effectively breaking up the group hug instead of adding on to it. "Mikoto nee-san! It's been too long!"

"Kushina, you look as beautiful as ever."

The two ladies moved over, reminiscing and gossiping about older, happier times, lost in their own conversation. Minato simply shook Fugaku's hand and moved back toward his son's side, as did Fugaku. No words were necessary, their friendship was one of mutual respect. The two of them look over at their respective wives as Mikoto laughed at a joke that that Kushina had told. "Girls will be girls." Minato said with a shrug.

Fugaku let out a barking laugh. "Indeed."

Itachi detached himself from Sasuke side and moved in front of Naruto. Without warning, the Uchiha prodigy dropped to his knees in front of the young Uzumaki and bowed deeply, to the onlooker's surprise. Even Mikoto and Kushina halted their conversation in surprise at the elder Uchiha sibling prostrating himself in front of Naruto.

(Music - Naruto Movie 6 OST - Storm)

The position Itachi was in was called Dogeza. It was used to show deep apology, express a desire for a favor, or to show deep gratitude and thanks. The person would kneel directly on the floor and touch his head to the floor in a symbol of complete deference. The dogeza had an even higher meaning to the Shinobi, as their lives were full of betrayal and blood. To completely prostrate oneself in front of another and to drop all defenses was a method of saying that he or she would trust the person receiving the dogeza with their life. A fact that did not go unnoticed by the onlooker's eyes. It was used to show deference to the most highly- revered high-class person, such as a daimyo. It certainly wasn't normal to do so for a scruffy, blond teenager.

"Thank you." Itachi said simply. There was no need for more words, all of his meanings and intentions had been poured into those short two words. Thank you for taking care of my brother. Thank you for being friends with him. Thank you for leading him into the light. Thank you for everything.

"Er..." Naruto didn't know what to do. It was the first time anyone had done something of this magnitude to him, and he didn't know how to react. "Please stand, Itachi-san." he said, taking care to add the -san honorific to his name, something he almost never did. "I should be thanking you. If it wasn't for your guidance, Sasuke would still be a regular stick-up-the-ass Uchiha bent on revenge."

Itachi let out a short chuckle at that, it wasn't quite far from the truth. Fugaku stared at his son incredulously. His bright, happy son had turned out like that? Ignoring the stares sent at him, Sasuke sniffed in disdain and turned his head away from the conversation in front of him. _'Stick up the ass indeed! I wasn't that bad.'_

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head and added, "And uh... Remember when we met that one time in during the mission to save Gaara?" Itachi nodded and cocked his head to the side in confusion. Seeing the perplexed expression on the elder Uchiha's face, Naruto found it hard to believe that this same person used to fill him with fear and anger. "Well, I'm sorry I said that I could've been a better brother than you. I didn't know all of the facts and -ow!"

Itachi stuck his hand out and jabbed his index and middle finger at Naruto's forehead, much like the way he used to do to Sasuke. Where was his Konoha headband when he needed it? The raven-haired Uchiha smiled and said, "No, you're right. Sasuke needs someone like you. You're like the sun and he's the shadow. Shadows need the sun's light to be born. I'm just another shadow, so I can't support him like you can."

"O-oh, ok." Naruto blushed in embarrassment and looked down at his feet, the perfect picture of Hinata, twiddled his fingers.

Kushina clapped her hands and slung an arm over Mikoto's shoulders, "Wow Ita-chibi! When did you get such a silver tongue? A shame you didn't have girlfriend, you could've made her happy."

Noticing the double meaning of what Naruto's mother said, It was Itachi's turn to blush, the normally cold and silent demeanor of the elder Uchiha shrunk into that of an embarrassed child. "K- K- Kushina kaa-san! It's not like that!"

"Ne, ne, see Mikoto? You just gotta press his buttons a bit. A few jokes on his virginity and his feminine appearance will do." Kushina cackled while poking Mikoto's side. It seemed that Naruto's prankster attitude when he was young wasn't as much of a call for attention than it was a inherited trait.

"Am I interrupting?"

(Cue Music- Fairy Tail Celtic Theme)

All in the vicinity turned to find a young man walking towards them with a smile on his face. He was near Sasuke's and Naruto's age and his build was like Naruto's, as was his electric blue eyes, though this person's sclera was black. His hair was of the blackest obsidian, darker than that of the Uchiha's. He was dressed in a deep purple kimono that was layered with a white haori. At first glance, he could've been mistaken for Naruto, if his hair was not a different color, but a second glance would soon dispel that. This figure emanated power, an aura of protection that made Naruto feel safe. The scariest part about him though, was that Naruto couldn't sense him. His _Negative Emotions Rising_ ability granted to him by Kurama allowed him to sense anyone with any small amount fear, anger, or hatred. This figure didn't have any. None at all. And that was unnerving. To add fuel to Naruto's suspicions about this guy, the adults of the group, as well as Itachi, quickly fell to their knees in deference to the figure in front of them. Naruto and Sasuke stayed the same, the only change was that they were now staring at their parent with bewildered expressions.

"Naruto!" Kushina hissed. "Bow now!"

"Sasuke!" Itachi whispered. "Bow! Do you know who that is?"

Naruto, being ever the one for formalities, pointed a finger at the smiling figure and thumped his chest. "Yo! Who are you?! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the Orange Hokage of Konoha, 'ttebayo! Why do you look like me, you faker!"

Everyone bowing let out a sweatdrop and Kushina stared in shock at her son. '_I wasn't that bad when I was his age was I?'_

_'No. You were worse.'_

_'Thank you for that Minato.'_

The figure let out a rippling laugh that was as quiet as a hummingbird's wings and as a reverbrating as a thunderclap. "You are an amusing one, Child of the Prophecy. I have come to give you and your companion a choice. It is not your time to move on, not yet. And as for my appearance, this is my chosen appearance since a thousand years ago. I do not look like you, little boy. It is you that was crafted in my image, Child of the Prophecy. "

Sasuke, blunt as always, quipped, "So what is this choice? I've no need for small talk. And who are you? You've yet to properly introduce yourself."

The figure smiled kindly at the pensive Uchiha. "Me? Well, I am who I am. Nothing less, and everything more. I am Kami, I am the Shinigami, I am Jashin." His eyes flashed dangerously and the two of them were encircled in a ball of blood-red light, separating them from their families.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Naruto yelled, slamming a fist on the unforgiving barrier.

"My choice is simple, Child of the Prophecy." the godly figure said, "I ask you, wil-"

"My name is Naruto, you bastard! Read my lips, U-Zu-Ma-Ki Na-Ru-To!"

Mikoto raised the back of her hand to her mouth and let out a demure giggle as Kushina smacked her forehead in exasperation and Minato pinched the bridge of his nose. Why couldn't their son have grown up calm like Minato instead of a hothead like Kushina? As Naruto continued his rant, even Itachi and the stoic Fugaku began to laugh slightly and Kushina's ire continued to grow. Then it snapped.

"NA-RU-TO!" the redhead snarled, her hair swirling into nine crimson tails. Fugaku cautiously inched away from the raging Habanero, he had been on the receiving end of the Uzumaki's anger, and he must say, his right cheek wasn't the same since. Sasuke stumbled backwards a bit, tripping because of the lack of room in his own barrier. If this was Naruto's mother, he was glad she was dead when he almost killed Naruto at the Valley of the End three years ago. He wouldn't have survived the aftermath of the battle otherwise. "Pay attention to Kami-sama, dear. I'm **asking nicely.**"

"Eeep! Yes Ma'am!"

The introduced Kami-sama laughed out loud. "Oh, this is quite amusing. No wonder you were chosen as the Child of the Prophecy." After a few more snorts and chuckles, the creator of the universe regained his composure and his eyes flashed a deep crimson. "My choice to you, Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yellow Flash, and you, Uchiha Sasuke, son of the 23rd leader of the Uchiha clan, is simple. Your great services to the world are accounted, and my choice is that between a virtue and a vice. Another world, far different from this one, is in danger of a dark force, one that extremely powerful and as unpredictable as you are, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Whoa whoa wait! You're asking me..." The energetic blond pointed at himself, ".. and the teme over there.." He pointed at the impassive Uchiha... "to go and save the world again from another Madara and probably get ourselves killed? It was a miracle we survived this one!"

_Is this guy serious? How has he not realized that he died yet?_

"You misunderstand me, little one." The figure said "Your world's story has come to an end. The other world's story, the other universe's story, though, is just beginning. I ask you to guide the children of Fiore to greatness. They hold the future of their world on their shoulders, just as you have done. The Elemental Nations has fallen into a peaceful lull thanks to your efforts, but there is still turmoil elsewhere. The Tale of Uzumaki Naruto is need of a sequel isn't it?"

"What about Sakura? And Kiba? And Octopops? And all the others that have survived? Are we just supposed to leave them?"

"Yes, boy." The figure waved his hands and in front of them materialized a scale of some sort. It was precariously balanced on a single spike, and there was a single plate that was separated by three barriers. One section of the platform was filled with a sky-blue liquid and filled half of the whole plate. The other two were filled with a golden liquid, which flowed back and forth between the two section through a gap between their barriers. "This is the balance between worlds. The blue liquid section symbolizes your world, and the golden liquid sections represent Earthland and its counterpart Edolas. Earthland and Edolas' destiny is intertwined with your world's, and vice versa. With the deaths of so many powerful people in Earthland, which became known as the Dragon Wars, the scale tipped, so much so that the golden liquid was in danger of spilling over to yours, marking the destruction of both worlds. In an attempt to restore balance, the universe sparked a series of wars in your world that became known as the Great Shinobi Wars, and the balance began to shift to equality again. The Fourth Shinobi War was the last, but balance is still not there, my son. The people of your world are too powerful, and much too numerous. That is why I am asking you two, Naruto and Sasuke, as the most powerful shinobi in existence now, to move to Earthland to restore balance to the world. But mark this, this is but a choice. I can readily send others to Earthland for balance, such as Hashirama or even your own father, Child of the Prophecy, but none are as pure and have as strong a bond as the two of you have. The two of you are perfect for the cause. You, Child of the Prophecy, the purest reincarnation of the Rikudo Sennin's heart, and you, Uchiha Sasuke, the closest reincarnation of the Sage's eyes, and the most untainted by the Uchiha's hate. The others who have survived the Fourth Shinobi War are working to establish peace in the war-stricken Nations." The figure took a deep breath and his look turned haggard, "It may interest you to know, but Killer B is the leader of the restoration efforts, and he was much more eccentric than even I could have ever calculated. I can only hope that Maito Gai and he do not meet. The rest that sacrificed themselves for the victory against Madara will continue their lives in peace in my realm, as your families do, unless they wish to be reborn. In this case, they will be reincarnated into either the three worlds, depending on where they are needed. Do you accept my request? Uzumaki Naruto? Uchiha Sasuke?"

Naruto cupped his chin with his hand, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. He lifted his head up and his brows unfurrowed and he raised a finger as if he had an epiphany. He let out a deep breath and chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't understand any of that."

Sasuke palmed his face and answered for his less than bright friend. "We accept. I, and I'm sure Naruto, wish to guide others. I for one do not wish for anyone to fall onto the dark path that I fell on."

The powerful figure clapped his hand in glee and boomed with laughter, "Well said, son of Fugaku, well said. Perhaps you have inherited more of the Sage's heart than you believe." The figure clapped his hands once, the impact of his palms making contact sending out a shockwave that reverberated through the air. "Let us begin."

The blood-red sphere that Naruto and Sasuke were captured in began to glow a dull crimson, obscuring the two's figure from their worried parents (and Itachi). There were twin shouts of surprise and the orb of crimson light dispersed to drop the two shinobi uncerimoniously on their gluteus maximi. Aged to their academy days, of course. Naruto let out a startled yell at his shrunken form, he was around eleven and twelve years old, perhaps a few weeks before he would receive his genin hitai-ate. Sasuke let out a grunt of surprise at his own attire. While Naruto's jumpsuit had shrunk to fit his smaller form, Sasuke's tunic and belt had not, though his shirt had. He let out a high-pitched yelp as he attempted to keep his pants from showing the onlookers more... unsavory parts of him.

Kushina let out a shriek of elation and immediately began rubbing her cheek against Naruto's whiskered one. "AH! Kawai, you're so cute, Naru-chan! If only I were alive to see you like this the first time around." Naruto blushed a crimson hue of such intensity as to make even Hinata jealous. He felt awkward and uncomfortable, but cuddling with his long-dead mother wasn't an altogether unpleasant feeling.

Itachi and the rest of the Uchiha family just let out an amused cough at Sasuke's shrunken form, which The youngest Uchiha personally thought was worse.

"Ah yes, I may have forgotten to tell you," Kami said, his wide grin suggesting that he hadn't let the fact slip from his mind at all, "but to allow your bodies to adjust to the different atmosphere of Earthland, I will have to de-age your bodies. This age is optimal, as it still allows you to maintain your basic skills and has the most flexible chakra coils, next to being a baby, as the body's second growth spurt is around this time."

The figure snapped his fingers, as if he had just remembered something important. "Oh yes. Your gifts! For your duties to the shinobi world, I award you one boon. I am a generous god, after all. Now then, what would you like? The Rinnegan? Any of the Sage of Six Path's tools? If I remember correctly, Fugaku asked to have separate place for his family as to reconcile with Itachi, and Kushina asked for a bed and a soundproof room. Itachi just asked for Sasuke's protection, which is why you haven't died until now, despite your foolish endeavors. Attacking all five Kages at once while fending off hundreds of samurai at the Five Kage Summit? Really? Ah, I'm rambling again, I apologize, it's just been such a long time since I've had guests to talk too."

Naruto frowned. He didn't particularly want anything, persay. The Rinnegan just wasn't his thing, especially seeing how freaky Nagato looked with it. "I... want to learn my father's Hiraishin technique. I learned his Rasengan, so I would like to learn his other star jutsu. Oh, and I want Kurama back. I miss him in my stomach"

"I have no request, Kami-sama, save for having my Sword of Kusanagi back. I grew attached to that sword."

The god of all creation boomed with laughter. "Really now, this is the most amusing group of people I've seen in quite a while. Anything in the whole world, and all they want is a room for their family, a bed and a soundproof room, a single jutsu, a jaded baby fox, and a mediocre sword. Hilarious!" He clapped his hands, and the young blond and Uchiha began to disperse into flakes of golden light. "Well then, good luck on your journey little ones, I'm sure it will be rewarding."

Minato moved over to Kushina and drew her close to himself. The couple smiled at their child and waved sadly. "Goodbye son, We'll be watching, each step of the way. 'ttebane.!"

The Uchiha family embraced their disappearing son warmly, making sure to make the moment last for as long as possible. "For what it's worth, I'm so extremely proud of you, son." Fugaku said. Mikoto smiled and nodded her head, her tears marking a trail down her porcelain cheeks. Itachi just gave his brother a hug and touched his forehead with his sibling's.

"Remember, no matter what you do, forever and ever, I love you."

Sasuke and Naruto gave a bittersweet smile to their loved ones, and piece by piece, disintegrated from Kami's realm.

0o0o0

(Cue Music - Fairy Tail Main Theme (change between Celtic, Rock and Quiet at leisure))

Naruto awoke to the high-pitched scream of a little girl. He blinked his bleary eyes and rubbed them vigorously. The hell was this place? He rubbed his eyes again and stared at the sight in front of him in disbelief.

"WHAT THE HELL KAMI?! YOU SAID I WAS DONE WITH THIS CRAP!" the blond maelstrom screamed into the air with righteous rage. In front of him was a rather mid-sized town, the size of Nami no Kuni (Inari's town), complete with wood and straw houses lining the road that led into the village. It was a peaceful sight. That is, it would've been had not the houses been on fire, and the residents not been screaming in fear.

The poor boy just couldn't get a break. With a scream of frustration, Naruto ran into the village in an attempt to save any and all that needed his help. "What's going on?! Does anybody need help?"

"Look! That boy, he'll be perfect as a slave at the Tower, take him! We might get a promotion!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a group of men with black hats jumped out at the Uzumaki, intent on subduing him. It was admittedly impressive, if a bit disgusting the way that they moved in synchronized order to take down one teenage- i mean, pre-pubescent, boy. It would've worked too, had Naruto not been as awesome as he was, in his opinion.

"Come at me, you losers! The great Uzumaki Naruto will show you how it's done! Futon: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!" The short, er, de-aged Uzumaki took a deep breath, inflating his lungs to a comical degree and blew out the mass of wind chakra.

The gale of wind blew the guards away from Naruto and flying away into one of the wood houses, simultaneously blowing out the fires in most of the houses. Naruto jumped in the air and began preening himself, before he noticed the gravity of his situation. "Wait? 'he'll be perfect as a slave'? You people are slavers?" The Uzumaki's eyes grew darker, into almost a deep purple. "That... that's just sick." He stared up at the unconscious bodies of the slavers that were imbedded in the ruined wood houses and shook his head ruefully. A completely different world, but the people here were just as greedy as some in the Elemental Nations. It was sad, really.

Naruto was brought out of his downward spiral of depressing thoughts by the faint crying of the girl, the same voice of the scream that had woken him. He moved to find a little girl with a ribbon in her black hair in the middle of a pair of burning buildings, moving frantically from side to side, crying for her brother. "O-onii-chan...? W-where are you..?" The girl had a small ribbon in her hair and wore a collered vest over a one-piece skirt. Her shoes were sprinkled with the black of the ashes of the fire, and her tears spilled interminably from her little cheeks. It was a heart-wrenching sight.

Lost in her sorrows, she seemed to ignore her surroundings, a deadly mistake. With a thunderous crack, the timber of one of the houses broke off, unable to handle its own weight due to the deterioration caused by the inferno, and fell towards the distressed child.

"Shit!" Naruto cursed, there was no way to get there in time. He ran as fast as he could, but his shortened legs didn't grant him the same speed as he once had. He cursed again, desperately trying to reach her, and flailed his arm desperately. With a burst of light, a kunai flew from his fingertips and imbedded itself into the falling piece of burning wood. Wait, that kunai looked familiar? Oh.. oh, wait.

With a golden flash Naruto suddenly found him transported right in front of the weeping girl, in between her and the falling wood. Grunting, he took the piece of wood on his back, ignoring the pains as his back began to char and blacken from the increased heat.

Goddamit, he didn't even have time to appreciate the fact that he could use his father's prized jutsu with ease.

The girl stopped crying with a hiccup and stared incredulously at her blond savior, who was still hissing with pain from the fire. "What are you doing? Run! I know I'm beautiful, but I can't hold this up forever! Hurry, leave!" the blond hissed. He had an extremely high pain tolerance and Kurama's chakra was healing the wound as fast as it was burning him, even though the fox himself seemed to be dormant, but even he had a limit. Too bad for him this girl seemed to be deaf or something, as she was still looking at him with tear-streaked eyes.

"What are you still doing here? If we stay here, they'll find us!" A petite hand clamped down on the black haired girl's wrist and began dragging her away from the fray. The owner of that hand, a small girl with flaming scarlet hair in a short bowl cut, about 10 years of age, began to pull the other girl away

"B-but, onii-chan is still.." the girl sniffled, but still allowed herself to be pulled away by the other girl's firm grip. There was a resounding crash from behind them and they looked back at where the blond child who had saved their lives, only to find the remains of the flaming piece of timber that had almost crushed them and no trace of the boy. No blood, no clothes, nothing. They mouthed a silent thank you to their savior for his sacrifice and continued their way outside, to the outskirts of the village.

The two quickly moved toward an old, dilapidated house, away from the group of people that were out looking for children to kidnap. The scarlet-haired girl's friend Simon had already been taken and she was damned if she was going to let another friend get taken away. She searched for a place to hide her weeping companion, when an unwelcome face showed itself.

"Hey little girls, fancy coming with onii-chan?" one of the slavers said, his black hat skewed to the side and his ripple-patterned jacket ripped to shreds. He had an insane gleam in his eye, as if he had gotten too used to all the madness around him and had begun to enjoy it. He drew a knife from his belt and began to stalk menacingly towards the little girls. "Hmm? Why don't you come with me? I'll make things... nicer."

"Dynamic Entry!"

A blonde blur smacked into the insane slaver with a classic jumping side kick to the face, sending the man rolling on the ground clutching his face in pain. "Are you two alright? Geez, I can't leave you two alone for even a second." Naruto said, looking over the two girls for any visible injuries.

"You...you... You're dead!" the one with scarlet hair proclaimed, pointing a quivering finger at the laughing boy. The raven-haired one mimicked her companioned, her jaw dropping in surprise, forgetting her fear in the sheer impossibility of the situation.

"Ahahaha! You underestimate me, young grasshoppers!" Naruto exclaimed, putting his shortened fingers on his hips and cackling, "Never underestimate Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi extraordinaire!"

He quickly grabbed the two girl's wrists with each of his hands and moved them towards an empty crate. He lifted the top off of the crate and peered into the small space. "Damnit, there's only room for one person."

The older of the two girls shook her wrist out of Naruto's grip and crossed her arms defiantly. "I'll stay here. Let her go."

Naruto stared at the redhead, at the blazing determination in her eyes. And smiled. It reminded him of himself, of more peaceful times where he had vehemently claimed that he would become Hokage. He nodded towards the young girl. "If you're sure. Help me with this one then." He said, nodding towards the other female, who had started to sniffle again when she got over her surprise at seeing Naruto alive. She reminded him so much of Hinata, it almost hurt.

Naruto picked up the sniffling girl bridal-style, hooking one arm underneath her knees and gently propping her up by supporting her back with his other arm, ignoring the small cry of surprise at the action. He gently placed her inside the wooden crate.

"H-hey look! It's Geoff, he's unconscious too!"

"Yeah, I heard it was this blond kid."

"I heard some sounds over by that junk house over there!"

Naruto cursed quietly when he heard the sound of trudging feet and the clanking of knifes and swords approaching their little hidey-hole. He and the other redheaded girl stared at the black-haired one's tear-stained face and smiled gently. "Stay here, and hide!"

The girl quivered, but managed to find her voice to pose her question. "A-and you?"

The scarlet haired one smiled beatifically down at her. "I'll find somewhere else to hide."

Naruto winked at the terrified little girl. "Don't worry, this onii-chan is strong." He frowned at the little girl though, when she buried her head in her hands, sobbing. He gently lifted her chin, making her face him. And none to gently flicked her on the forehead. "Hey now, no crying, you hear me? It won't do for such a pretty little thing like you to weep like that. It'll make this onii-chan sad too." he said, making her blush beet red.

The sound of trudging feet grew louder, as did the rambling voices of the slavers. "Hey, I think I heard something over there! Isn't that Hidan's body?"

"Yeah, it is! That idiot, sleeping on the job. Remember, take the children, kill all the adults."

"Yeah."

With a furtive glance to the side, Naruto quickly glanced down at the girl's trembling form. "Don't worry." He glanced at his other female companion, who nodded back to him. The two of them smiled down at the young girl in the crate.

"Live."

Bam!

They slammed the door of the wooded crate rather harshly and began to move away from it, as to keep it from suspicion.

"Hey, look, we found two of the little buggers!" one of the slavers said, obviously the leader. This one held some sort of cheap gladius as his weapon of choice, and it was obvious he wasn't proficient at wielding it by his tight and stiff grip on the blade. It didn't change the fact though that they towered over Naruto and the little girl, at twelve and ten years old respectively.

"Run, I'll hold them off. It won't be hard at all." Naruto reassured his companion, gently pushing her away from the oncoming fight. She nodded and ran off into the forest, quickly disappearing from view.

"Shit, one of them is getting away. Go after it, I'll get this one!" The leader of the slavers bellowed, waving his gladius back and forth. The group of about ten men split into two, five moving towards the forest, and five continuing their walk towards Naruto. Unfortunately for them, they found all of their paths blocked by the blond. Or was it blondes?

"The fuck? H-hey boss, there are more of them! He must be some sort of magic-user!" one of them cried, suddenly losing his bluster as he saw that they were outnumbered by the overwhelming copies of the same blond that they were about to kidnap now.

"They're just kids! The more to kidnap the better! We already got like four from this village alone, what's a few more?"

Naruto frowned at that. There were more that were kidnapped? In hindsight, it only made sense. After all, a village didn't usually have only two kids, like the two he had found, and probably had more. The fact that he didn't find any than the two he had saved meant that the others were already captured and most likely already escaping the village to wherever the slavers were going. The first decision would be to beat up these sorry excuses of fighters that were approaching him and then force them to tell him where the villagers were going, but that decision had a whole bunch of problems. The place where they were going could be miles away and would most likely be very heavily guarded. That was a no go.

The logical decision that Naruto came up with was to go with them as a slave. Though it made him want to vomit at the thought, it was the optimal decision. They wouldn't be able to harm the slaves permanently, lest they impair his ability to work, and any restraint put on them would be easily broken by the young blond when he and the others broke out. It was a relatively sound plan.

"We'll go with you. All of us." The crowd of Naruto's chorused, holding out their arms in mock obedience. The slavers exchanged glances with each other at the apparent change of heart, missing the slight leer that flickered on the original Naruto's face.

"O-oh alright kid." The leader of the slavers said, sheathing his gladius, completely taken aback by the unconventional and peaceful surrender of the group of blonds. Naruto almost face-palmed at the rookie mistake. What idiot sheathes their weapon in the midst of a bunch of enemies, whether they had surrendered or not was irrelevant. Bah, what scrubs.

The Uzumaki forced himself not to retaliate and let himself be chained together in a line. The original was somewhere near the middle, but not quite, placed randomly. It was stupid to have the original leading. Naruto nodded to one of the clones, and the clone gave an experimental tug on the rusted chains. With a loud clang, the chains on the clone's hands snapped in two, freeing him from his restraints. The clone let out a sheepish chuckle and scratched the back of his head when the slaver's eyes swung towards the blond. He puffed out of existence soon afterwards.

"Er, sorry, some of my clones have too much power and disperse because of their instability." Naruto fibbed. It made sense, didn't it?

It did for the slavers. They nodded densely and the group began walking down the road out of the village. Naruto let out a breath of relief. Just few more minutes and he would be on his way to freeing the rest of the captured ones in wherever they were going. Nothing could go wrong.

THWOCK!

The slaver behind the line of Naruto's fell to the ground unconscious with a strangled yell before he passed out. There, her breaths heaving, stood Naruto's red haired companion, holding a rather thick piece of wood that she had no doubt found in the woods. Stupid girl, why would she come back?

"Sorry." The girls panted, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "A hero always comes late."

Naruto groaned and palmed his face. Who did this girl think she was? And what was with that quote, that was a corny as it gets! He was never that bad when he was her age!... Right?

"I'll protect you, blond onii-chan!" she yelled, brandishing her lump of wood like she would a sword. Except that this hunk of cellulose had not even a passing resemblance to a sword and was twice as unbalanced.

Naruto sighed. Something always had to go wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few of the slavers draw their knives and tread towards the little girl, who, after her initial charge, seemed to realize how foolish her decision was and began to lose her bluster. She still held her makeshift club, but her trembling gave away her fear. Naruto let out a deep breath and jumped in between her and the slavers, knocking her to the ground.

"Ow, I think I tripped." he called out loudly before whispering to her ear. "Calm down, kiddo, I let myself get caught so I can save the rest of your friends. Come with me, I'll keep you safe."

The girl's eyes widened and she dropped her club in surprise. He gave her a reassuring smile and got up, offering her a hand. She took the blond's hand rather shyly and hid behind Naruto, away from the amused (and some lecherous) grins of the slavers. "It's fine, she's coming with us." he said. The leader of the slavers nodded and left the girl alone, seeing as she was already practically attached to the hip to one of the many blond prisoners they had gotten.

As the odd group of slavers and slaves moved their way out of the town, Naruto turned his head to look at the girl that was hiding behind his back. "So kiddo, what's your name? Mine's Uzumaki Naruto."

Said girl gave a small giggle at the strange name. "My name is Erza." she said. Her shy smile wilted fractionally though, when she said her next statement. "I don't know my last name though... I was born an orphan..."

Naruto smiled warmly down at Erza. "That's fine, I was an orphan too!" When Erza lifted up her head to stare at Naruto's grin, he poked her in the forehead getting a small 'itai!' from her. "Tell you what, how about I make you a last name?"

"Make me one?"

"Yeah. How about Scarlet? Erza Scarlet, that has a nice ring to it, don't you think? It matches your beautiful red hair." _Red hair so much like Ma's_

Erza flushed a deep crimson to match her flaming hair and averted her eyes from the grinning blond. "E-Erza Scarlet?" She nodded. "I like it.

The two (twenty one counting the slavers and the clones?) continued their walk in companionable silence, into the falling sunset.

0o0o0

(The Next Morning - Ruins of Rosemary Village)

(Cue Music - Naruto - Sadness and Sorrow)

The little girl sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve for the umpteenth time. Her pearl-white ribbon was a mottled gray now, the effects of the dirt and the rain. She had been here for what seemed like forever, although it couldn't be more than a day or so. She could've moved, it had been quite a while since all had fallen silent in her home village, but she dared not move. And after all, hadn't that blond onii-chan promised to come back for her? Hadn't he promised to take care of her?

She sniffled again and wiped her tears. "O-onii-chan.." she murmured. squatting in the harsh unsanded wood of the crate with her head in her arms. "Simon onii-chan, Redhead onee-chan, Naruto onii-chan." she murmered, tears flowing from her obsidian orbs. And then they stopped as memories of Naruto's last words flooded through her.

_'Hey now, no crying, you hear me? It won't do for such a pretty little thing like you to weep like that. It'll make this onii-chan sad too.'_

That's right, she realized. No crying, She didn't have time to cry, not now. She dried her tears for the last time and she waited resolutely inside the crate.

If only I were stronger, the little girl thought to herself. Strong enough to stop those bad men from taking my onii-chan and my onee-chan. Strong enough to keep all of the people in Rosemary Village safe from all of the bad men. She would get stronger, she vowed. Strong enough to get her onii-chan back. She would.

She looked next to her to find a small box of what looked like bread. It seemed that someone had used this as a cargo box and stored their next meal or payment inside it. Well, better for her. She would get stronger, she promised herself again.

But for now, she would wait. And eat bread.

0o0o0

Sasuke yawned and scratched his chest, blinking his bleary eyes. He glanced down and let out a relieved breath. At least Kami had been thoughtful enough to shrink his clothes down to fit his petite, smaller frame. What would've looked intimidating in his sixteen year old body merely looked cute in this one, though. Shame.

He looked around at his surroundings, there wasn't much. It was just a forest, not unlike the ones near Konoha, but a bit different. These trees had a broader leaf and were a brighter green than the ones he knew in Konoha. They weren't as high either, and had small thin branches jutting in all different directions, making it difficult if not outright impossible to tree-hop from place to place.

He pushed himself off of the ground and was elated to hear the familiar rustle of cloth near his back. He cautiously moved his hand towards it, hoping beyond hope. Yes! It was there. The Sword of Kusanagi, his favorite weapon. He had used it to make another variation of Chidori, to conduct electricity, to direct Kirin, it was great. And it was his again. He unsheathed his blade, relishing its familiar metallic sheen, and closed with a satisfying 'click!'. He let out a reserved smirk and began walking out of the forest.

Hours later, he let out a relieved sigh as he stumbled out of the forest. He knew that the result of a younger body would mean a crippled stamina, but this was ridiculous. He was panting and heaving as he made his way out of the forest and the young Uchiha had to force chakra into his lungs to speed up the time it took to catch his breath.

Breath sufficiently caught, the Uchiha looked at the scene in front of him and frowned. It was a town, a small one. The size of Nami no Kuni, long ago, and it had straw and wood houses. The problem was that this whole town had been burnt to the ground. The only remains of the house were the charred ruins of wood scattered over the blackened stone footpath. He cautiously stepped over one of the bodies in what seemed like a massecre, it was a women, a senior at that. It was sickening, but when he thought about, this was basically what he had wanted to Konoha. Yeah, it was pretty gruesome. He activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and began to use the Amaterasu to cremate the bodies, it was the best burial he could afford to give as a shinobi in unknown territory.

When he completed the jutsu, he gasped and fell to his knees, the drain on his chakra reserves extremely noticeable. Goddamit, was this how pathetic he was four years ago? It almost made him want to thank Orochimaru for training him for three years. Almost. After all, the snake sannin was a bit of a pedophile when one thought about it.

He got to his feet, still panting a bit from the exertion of using continuous douses of Amaterasu, pathetic excuse really, considering how much he spammed it during his battle with Madara.

Making his way out of the village, Sasuke noticed a dilapidated old house near the outskirts of town and made his way towards it. Maybe he would find some tomatoes to eat, he was starving.

0o0o0

(Rosemary Village - Dilapidated House)

She had come to a decision. It had been a day and a half and she was tired of waiting. She brushed the dirt off of her knees and stood up as far as she could without opening the crate. She carefully folded what was left of the bread into a piece of paper and got ready to leave. She would find her onii-chan herself. She still felt a bit guilty about leaving the redhead nee-chan and that Fishcake onii-chan, but she had a suspicion that they had every intention of sacrificing themselves for her. Well, their suspicion wouldn't go to waste.

She moved her neck back and forth, wincing at the small pops and started to stand up, when she heard a loud crash. She let out a muted yelp and crouched down again. Were the slavers back?

"Stupid house, can't even hold the weight of a twelve year old. Doesn't even have tomatoes either." she heard.

There was creak and sunlight began to peek through as the lid of her crate began to open.

Peeking through was a raven-haired onii-san with similarly onyx eyes, staring in surprise that the little girl. He was cute, she realized with a blush, as cute as that Fishcake onii-chan.

"Uh... Hey." the black-haired boy said rather lamely. "What's your name? You haven't seen any tomatoes have you? I'm Uchiha Sasuke." the boy finished quickly, as if to make up for his flimsy greeting.

"K-Kagura." she whispered, still staring at the bishounen's confused face. "Mikazuchi Kagura."

* * *

**Shaboom!**

**How was that? People began complaining about Naru and Hina, and just Naru, so I sent Naruto and Sasuke, to make a huge change. Now don't you yell at me for making this another NaruErza fic, cause it's not, at least not until, y'all decide that. Their relationship might end up like Fairy Tail's Lightning Shadow, where Erza is more a sibling and Mira wins our resident Fishcake's heart. Who knows? And if not, let's make this Erza pairing more interesting. Convince me otherwise people.**

**Same goes for Sasuke and Kagura. I honestly got the idea of Sasuke meeting Kagura (i originally planned for him to meet and guard Jellal) when I was rereading Fairy Tail and the part where Erza and Kagura are fighting hit me hard. She's an avenger too, just like Sasuke is/was, and I thought that would be interesting, letting Sasuke meet basically a more emotional, but just as "avenger-y" female version of himself. Yeah, he likes tomatoes, look it up.**

**Naruto and Sasuke may or may not keep guarding Kagura and Erza. Naruto especially, since he's going meet a buttload of people at the Tower of Heaven. Check the wiki, did you know Angel was in the Tower of Heaven? And PM me for suggestions.**

**Oh, any grammar errors or anything let me know.**

**Right. Next on the list is Blade of Emptiness, if you haven't read that give it a shot, and that'll take a while, since I'm in the hospital and seeing how I haven't touched my summer assignments at all. I'll get it out, don't worry.**

**Review! Any comments, suggestions, criticisms, flames, praises. Review! I eat those things up.**


	3. Adjusting to a New World

Chapter 3: Adjusting to a New World

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail. I'm going to get a Savannah Cat and name it Naruto and get a female German Shepherd and name it Fairy. That way I'll own both Naruto and Fairy's Tail. Hopefully they won't attack me. I have bad memories from a pair of golden retrievers trying to attack my family jewels... What was I talking about again?**

**See, a genius, I tell you.**

**Sorry no music cues for you in this chapter. Here, let me just give you a few suggestions. **

**Sad songs:**

**Fairy Tail****: Main theme slow, Past Story, Inishie no Mahou**

**Naruto****: Go to Nabrutal in youtube and click on either Old Friend (Jiraiya Tribute), Decision (Minato and Kushina), or Obito's theme (Obito tribute)**

**Familiar of Zero (I know its not relevent, but these songs were just too perfect. Go read the manga [or the light novel]): ****Sacrifice and Passed Away**

**psst. gabriel blessing has really good fic that crosses Fate/stay night and Familiar of Zero, if anybody cares. and another that crosses Naruto and Sekirei. **

**Fighting/Epic:**

**Naruto: Kokuten, Reverse Situation, Nabrutal- Breakdown (Minato vs. Tobi)**

**Fairy Tail: Natsu's Theme**

**Sorry, I was rereading this chaper and decided I this was by far the worst chapter I've ever written grammar wise so I fixed it. Subject matter is the same, just fixed my grammar a bit. If you wanna reread it and point out more mistakes thats fine too.**

* * *

Naruto yawned and rubbed his eyes blearily, or at least attempted to. He frowned as he found his right arm pinned to his size by some large weight. He rubbed both eyes with his free left hand and blinked rapidly to clear his vision before staring accusingly at his arms.

And found his face filled with scarlet hair.

The girl that he had saved last night was sprawled over his right arm, pinning it to the hardwood of the tiny wagon that was bringing them to who-knows-where. There was a small thread of drool falling out of the girl's demure mouth, wetting the hem of his jacket, and her silky scarlet hair was a silky scarlet mess. She had a short, bowlish cut, and it had evolved during the night into a mockery of an afro, covering her eyes as it grew. The blond's eyes softened as the memories of the past day washed over him and he moved his free hand to gently part the mess of hair to reveal her closed eyes.

The girl was a lot like him, he realized. An orphan at such a young age, and though she wasn't a pariah like him, she had lost all she held dear in the attack on her village. The only reminder of her past were the scuffled, dirty sleeping forms of the other kidnapped victims around her. The blond's eyes hardened and his lips pursed into a thin line. He would protect her. What kind of Child of Prophecy would he be if he couldn't even protect one little girl? Speaking of protecting, where was he anyway?

Naruto's head shot up and he searched his surroundings. Foolish! Caught in the post-sleep haze and his own inner musings, he had left himself completely undefended. In enemy territory, no less! The wagon he was currently in was cheaply made, practically just a mass of wood and nails, and had no roof to protect them from the elements. That was fine, it was actually preferable in this case. He eyed his surroundings. The sun was in a rather high position in the East, marking it about an hour before noon, another jab at his conscience as to how much he had let himself go yesterday. A shinobi always woke with or before the sun. Ah hell, he was still a genin anyway. The air was saturated with the smell of brine, as sure sign that he was near an ocean, or at least some sort of sea. So far, everything was unfamiliar, even the trees. These trees had a broader leaf and a more vibrant green than the one's back in Konoha and they had a myriad of smaller branches jutting out a random intervals than the small number of thick ones he was used to. There went tree-hopping as an escape route.

Surroundings thoroughly checked, Naruto proceeded to examine the people around him. The majority of the slaves were children like him and Erza. They were all, well, just that, children. They had no place in this slavery business. There was one child though, that caught his eye. It was a black haired boy, with a broad jaw and small scowl on his face as he slept. Even as he slumbered, the boy had crossed his arms in such an uncomfortable manner, that even the slightest jolt would wake him. Promising one. Naruto yawned again and gently nudged Erza.

"Erza-chan. Wake up. It's morning." he whispered.

Her answering response was an unintelligible grunt. He smiled mischievously and abruptly jabbed the first knuckle of his fist into her side, right below her ribcage. Not enough to hurt, just enough to jolt her.

"AIIEEEEEE!" she shrieked, effectively acting as an alarm clock for everyone in her vicinity. All around her, the surrounding prisoners stretched and yawned just like Naruto had done minutes before and even the drowsy guards were shocked awake. The redhead cupped her hands protectively around her sides, an ineffective but cute gesture, and glared at the grinning blond before edging away from her harasser.

"Good morning." Naruto said brightly, "Glad to see you looking so alive 'ttebayo!"

He still got it.

0o0o0

(Ruins of Rosemary Village)

Sasuke stared down at the little girl in the box. She looked like a mess, truth be told. She had obviously been crying, and for a long time too. Her ebony hair was streaked with dirt and grime and her wide eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks were stained with tearlines and the ribbon atop her head was wrought with wrinkles and rips where the girl had wrung it over and over again in worry. She looked a lot like Hinata, Sasuke realized, if it weren't for her chestnut eyes. The same princess hairstyle, and the same shy fear, though it looked like this girl had some steel in her.

Sasuke blinked.

The girl blinked back.

And like that, the trance that had fell over them was broken.

"Raargh!" the little girl yelled, and she pounced out the little crate. She promptly began beating the Uchiha over the head with her package of bread, apparently not noticing that all of it was breaking into crumbs. "I won't let you take Kagura! Not like how they took the redhead onii-chan and the Fishcake onii-chan and Simon onii-chan and.." she huffed and puffed, ignoring her little rant in favor of pummeling the boy in front of her.

"Whoa, wait! I'm not here to - Ow! That hurt! - Hey, I'm not - son of a'." Sasuke yelped, as he was assaulted by all sides by the bread bag. And he couldn't even kill her. Damn this newfound conscience of his; how did Naruto live with it? Tired of the unrelenting girl trying to attack him -keyword here being _trying_- Sasuke grabbed her wrist and shook it. As expected, the girl went still with fear. Sasuke let out a sigh and cupped her chin.

"Read my lips, kid. I'm not a bad guy." he growled, his onyx eyes flashing with irritation.

Kagura nodded hesitantly, not daring to say anything lest she anger the scary onii-chan.

"Good." Sasuke said. He let go of her wrist and patted her on the head as he would a cute puppy. He gave the little girl a short look and turned around. He raised a hand in farewell, not even bothering to turn back. "Ja ne (See ya), kid. Maybe we'll see each other again."

Sasuke started walking away, down the ruined footpath, unknowingly in the opposite direction that Naruto walked hours before. The Uchiha slowed and tensed his feet, preparing to use the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).

Unfortunately, that path of action was taken away from him.

"Where do you thing onii-chan's going?! Are you just going to leave Kagura here?" a voice behind him screeched. Sasuke flinched at the cacophony and leaned to the left. There was a whoosh next to the Uchiha's ear. He turned around to find the little girl, Kagura was her name, glaring at him through fiery eyes and clutching a wooden stick like she would a sword.

"Yes." he answered coldly, watching her flinch at his biting tone. "I don't have time to look after little brats like you. Leave this village and find your own path." Sasuke reached into his jacket and pulled out a Kunai, ignoring the little girl's cry of slight fear and surprise. He threw it at the ground by her feet, and began walking away again. "My little gift to you. Hunt, and survive."

Kagura stared at the little knife embedded in the ground. She picked it up with a small grunt and examined it with as a child would a toy. She fingered the edge and frowned when she found it dull. The point was sharp, though.

"The edge's are supposed to be dull. It's a device for stabbing." Sasuke called out, not even bothering to turn back to look at her.

Kagura jumped. How did that onii-chan know what she was doing? She pocketed the knife in the folds of her small dress, which thankfully had a pair of pockets, and wielded her wooden make-shift sword again. She stared at Sasuke's shrinking form and was filled with a sense of resentment. She was just a little girl! How dare this onii-chan ignore her and leave her like this, staring down at her like she had no chance! Well, she'd show him. She would survive in the wild, and prove him wrong. The little girl set her jaw and stalked back to the ruins of the village. Maybe she would find some more things to eat. Bread was getting old.

Sasuke stopped at the edge of the trees and watched the little girl stomp back to the village. She was a lot like Naruto, though her appearance was more like Hinata's. He began to head back further into the forest, turning his back on the charred ruins of the village. The girl had steel in her. She would survive. His priority was finding Naruto. The Uchiha flickered away in whirl of leaves, leaving no trace that he had ever been there.

0o0o0

(Unknown Port Town)

The blond shinobi sneezed. He picked his nose and absentmindedly scratched the back of his head; the wrong order if one thought about it. He looked out of the wagon. They were definitely in some sort of a port, if the myriad of boats lined up at the shore were any indication. Simon, the black-haired slave with the broad jaw, spoke up.

"Any idea where we're going?" he asked, his voice quavering slightly. Naruto smiled. That was good; the boy wasn't without fear, that would have been foolish. His smile faded though, as the remainder of the slaves mumbled incoherent responses to his questions and huddle together closer in fear. The jinchuriki wrapped a protective arm around Erza, who was looking decidedly grim as well, her excess energy having been spent pummeling Naruto for his prank. She leaned into his embrace; he was her only support in this madness. She had been torn from her village, and all those that had cared for her were gone, and in the end, she had been saved by this odd blond boy that was prepared to sacrifice himself to buy her time. It was natural that she felt protected by him.

"Some sort of port." Naruto replied evenly. The rest of the huddled together slaves looked up at him in surprise; none had actually expected a response to the question they all privately shared. "My guess would be that we would either be.." he started, grimacing as he slid the last word out of his unwilling lips, "...sold...here, or taken by boat to some other place. I would bet the latter though. The fact that they took so much children means that the slavers need a large work-force that'll last for the next handful of decades." the blond finished.

The leader of the slavers, the one wielding the gladius, twisted in his saddle to look at the small blond child even as his steed marched on. "It's as you say, brat. To the Tower of Heaven you go."

Simon's head jerked up. "The Tower of Heaven?"

The slaver nodded, "Ay lad. I don't know much, except that it's some huge tower. The lot of you are supposed to help build it. Dirty work, it is. I just do the slaving, and to be honest, it doesn't do my heart well to do that either." The robust man nodded pensively, lost in his thoughts, and not noticing that he held the attention of all the people around him, slavers and slaves alike. He nodded to Naruto. "You've seen what happens, lad. Too much killing, too much kidnapping, and it becomes easy to you. It twists you inside. It's what happened to Hidan, the one that you put down yesterday. What can I do though; it puts food on my plate, so I've just got to grit my teeth and bear it. Godspeed to you kids. Better you than me." With that sobering thought, he turned around and stared resolutely ahead. He wasn't going to say any more.

With a whimper of fear, the kidnapped children all drew closer to each other, each attempting to draw some semblance of security from the other. Wherever they were going, it didn't sound like a nice place at all. Naruto's eyes darkened. He was liking this less and less. He was never one for slavery, and this sounded as worse as it got. He panned grim eyes to each of the children, taking note of their saddened looks and their restraining chains. Just a little longer, he promised them silently.

0o0o0

Simon clenched his hands together, ignoring the way his restraints cut into his wrists. He stared up at the blue sky, trying to imagine what his sister was going through right now, if she were alive. It was all because he was too weak to protect her! He should have been stronger, he berated himself. For her. He had promised her that he would keep her from harm, that he would keep her happy.

Breaking away from his darker thoughts, the black haired boy turned to look at Naruto, who was staring off into space with an equally foreboding expression. And who was this blond boy? Simon had never seen this boy in the village, and he knew almost everyone there. But somehow, this boy had appeared with them when the cart of slaves was about to depart. That wasn't what unnerved Simon, though. What unnerved him was the fact that only he and Erza alone were the only ones unshackled, the fact that the other slavers stepped cautiously around him, like they were careful not to anger him.

Simon shook his head, it was probably nothing. He was just becoming paranoid; who wouldn't with all this madness surrounding them? He didn't have time to wonder about strange blond enigmas. His job was to escape this "Tower of Heaven" and slavery itself.

The broad jawed boy was broken out of his musings by the quiet sobs of Tiny Tom, the youngest boy in the village, barely out of infancy and only now reaching childhood. Simon's hardened eyes softened and he got out of his seat to lay a reassuring hand on the little boy's shoulder, taking comfort in the fact that Tom's weeping had quieted to a low sniffle. Simon raised his head to stare at the azure sky again. He really had to get out of here.

"It'll be alright." he whispered consolingly. "It'll take more than this to break us."

But until then, he would protect the children here who needed him.

0o0o0

(Ruins of Rosemary Village)

It wasn't anywhere near nighttime, but it might as well have been, for all the light that was entering the dilapidated house on the edges of Rosemary Village. There was light, for sure, but all it did was help make the shadows darker in the room, and it too came fractured after coming through the broken windows. In the far corner of the room, Kagura lay crouched, with her knees huddled close to her chest. The raven haired girl sniffled and rubbed her eyes vigorously before shakily raising her other hand to the take a bite of the stale bread that was clutched in it.

Stupid Bad men. Stupid onii-chan. Stupid life. Stupid world. What had she done wrong? What did she do to deserve this? Everything she ever knew and loved had been wrenched away from her, and when she finally thought she found help, it was refused. She was so lonely.

Kagura pulled out the small knife that the black haired onii-chan had given her and stared at it half-heartedly. She threw it across the room and buried her head in her arms, listening to the kunai as it clattered across the rotted wood floor. Stupid knife. It wasn't even sharp, just pointy. She might was well just use a pencil.

Kagura sat there silently as the time passed. After an hour of silent brooding, she raised her head.

_"Leave this village and find your own path."_ the voice of the black haired onii-chan coldly echoed in her head. How could she? This was her home, it didn't matter that there was barely anything left of it. This place had so many memories. She couldn't just leave it so easily.

Kagura took another bite of the stale bread. It tasted like cardboard, but it took her mind off her darker thoughts, which was the whole point. As she chewed, the black haired girl's thoughts began to wander. To memories of her brother.

0o0o0

_(Flashback - Around Five years ago)_

_A four year old Kagura sniffled outside of the porch of her house, then burst out into loud wails. There was a loud bang from inside the house and a muffled curse before the door swung open to reveal a frantic Simon._

_"Whoa, what's wrong Kagura? Are you alright? Why're you crying?" he cried out frantically. He had no idea what do to in this situation. It was one thing stifling a baby's tears, just stick a bottle of milk into their blubbering mouths. It was another entirely to try to calm down a child, who had a more complex mind. Not to mention that his sibling was a girl and girls were always complicated._

_Kagura sniffled and used her dress to wipe her tears and nose. Hey, she was a child, what was common sense to her anyways. "O-onii-chan.." she whimpered. "All the other kids went fishing with their daddies at the river. They said that I couldn't come because I didn't have a daddy. Why don't I have a daddy, onii-chan?"_

_Simon stiffened, his mind racing as he tried to thought of an explanation that would be plausible to the upset girl in front of him. He sat down next to his sniffling sister and wrapped an arm over her shoulder, smiling gently as she leaned into his embrace. "Mommy and Daddy aren't here, Kagura."_

_"But why, onii-chan? Why would they leave Kagura?"_

_"It's because they couldn't stay. They had to go to the sky, where they turned into angels." he fibbed, pointing to the fluffy clouds above. "They're looking down on us and watching over us even now. Look, see that cloud? Doesn't it look like a hand. That means they're waving at us."_

_Kagura stopped whimpering and leaned further into her brother's embrace, not even bothering to look up at the sky. "Still, I wish I had a daddy and mommy here." she muttered petulantly. "They would catch me a big, big fishie."_

_Simon's smile faded a bit as he slowly rocked from side to side. After a while, the continuous side-to-side motion lulled the raven-haired girl to sleep and she began to snore lightly. Simon kissed her forehead softly and picked her up in his arms. He nudged the door open with his foot and gently placed her in bed. Simon tucked the covers in for his sister, in case she got cold, and left the room with a determined expression on his face._

_0o0o0_

_The door burst open and a panicked voice shocked Kagura awake._

_"Kagura-chan! Wake up, wake up!" a little boy puffed, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "Your brother..! Your brother... he drowned in the river!"_

_"What?!" Kagura cried. She leapt out of bed, not even caring that she was in a nightgown with half of her buttons unbuttoned. She ran and ran to the outskirts of the village, where there was a crowd of people murmuring to themselves worriedly. _

_She pushed through the horde, ignoring the shouts of indignation, and dropped to her knees in front of her brother's drenched form. She grabbed the cuff of his shirt and shook it frantically, hoping against hope for some sort of response._

_"Onii-chan! Wake up!" Simon Onii-chan!" she shouted, as if her shouts would pierce into his conscience. _

_"Calm down, Kagura-chan!" a middle-aged man shouted over her yells, running over to grab her lest she inadvertently harm him. "It's ok! She's going to be all right! Just calm down!"_

_"Onii-chan!" she continued screaming, pointedly ignoring the man's protests._

_There was soft moan and Kagura abruptly went silent. Simon groaned and opened his eyes. He locked eyes with Kagura, who was standing stock-still, as if he were a mirage and moving or talking would cause him to disappear. He smiled tiredly and held up his hand. In it was a small fish, barely the size of a shoe, but enough to fit snugly in his fist. _

_"Sorry Kagura. The big one got away..."_

_Kagura stared at the small fish before she raised her arm to cover her eyes, which was practically gushing tears. "Ugh... Uh... Uwuh..."_

_Simon sat up and smiled gently at her. "Deep breaths, Kagura.. I'm fine. I'm okay."_

_She burst out into loud wails, and those in the crowd all exchanged happy and amused grins with each other at the sibling bonding. "..Ugh... I-I'm sorry, onii-chan.. I don't need a stupid dad anymore..." She weeped, rubbing her eyes rapidly with her forearm. "As long as I have you, onii-chan!"_

_Simon brought her into a tight hug and rubbed her back gently. "There there. 'Don't worry Kagura, Onii-chan will protect you. Don't cry Kagura. I'll always be there for you. Even when we're not side by side, even when I'm not next to you, I'll always be there." he murmured soothingly. He broke off the hug and lightly poked her chest with his finger. "Right here. In your heart." He poked her again and she giggled. He grinned at her and she beamed back. _

_"Always?"_

_"Always."_

0o0o0

The memory faded away and Kagura found herself back in the dilapidated old house, with shadows coiled around her. She lightly smacked her cheeks to get herself under control, and was surprised to find them damp with tears. She rubbed her eyes, she found herself doing that a lot as of late, and stood up. She walked over to the small black knife the sword wielding onii-chan gave her and pocketed it in the folds of her dress.

Her home wasn't this place. It wasn't this house; it wasn't even this village. Her home was wherever she called home, wherever she was most comfortable, and that place was by her brother's side. It wouldn't do for her to just stay here like this forever, it would disappoint so many people: her own brother, the Fishcake onii-chan, the onee-chan with the pretty red hair, and though she was loathe to admit it, staying here and sulking would probably disappoint the sword wielding onii-chan too. Though maybe disappoint wouldn't be the right word, more like confirm his suspicions. Well, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Kagura stood up and walked out into the cracked flagstone street and took a deep breath, ready for a new adventure. It smelled like smoke and body odor.

She sighed and moved towards the nearest home that didn't look as burnt as the rest. A shower was in order, and maybe a change of clothes as well.

0o0o0

Sasuke sat on the roof of one of the scorched houses cross-legged, watching the little girl walk inside on of the few houses that had survived the brunt of the bonfire from yesterday. She had a new perk to her step, he thought to himself. Her back had straightened with resolve and she wielded the kunai as if unafraid to use it; of course, she held it much to tightly to have any level of proficiency with it, but it was the thought that mattered.

And speaking of thoughts, what was he even doing here, thinking about some little girl that was practically half his age (he was near seventeen mentally after all) instead of trying to find out more about this unknown world and attempting to find Naruto? He sighed and rocked back on forth methodically. Damn his newfound conscience. If this was the old him, he would've just slain the girl and given her a merciful death. She would just die in the rugged wilderness anyway. Ugh, Naruto was rubbing off on him.

Sasuke stood up from his makeshift perch, dusting off his knees and behind for any residue ash. He would keep an eye out for the girl, something about her drew his attention. Maybe it was her potential, or her determination. It sure wasn't her looks; he was an Uchiha, nobody could top an Uchiha's aesthetics.

The Uchiha formed a quick hand sign and disappeared in a crackle of lightning, leaving no trace that he had even there. Showoff.

0o0o0

"We're here!" one of the slavers yelled, smacking the scabbard of his sword against the wood of the cart. "Look alive, brats! That is, if you don't want to get killed. The supervisors at the Tower aren't as kind as we are." He cackled, before resuming his pounding on the wood.

Naruto groaned and creased his eyebrows, trying to ignore the clatters and bangs while he was attempting to get his daytime nap. When the bangs didn't recede and the cacophony only got louder with the other children's protests, he shot open his eyes and smashed a fist against the wood, splintering it.

"Shut the hell up! I'm trying to sleep here!" Naruto roared. When he caught sight of the slaver holding scabbard and looking like a child caught in some act by their mother, Naruto smiled eerily. There was a good amount of apprehension in his eyes; there would be, especially after Naruto beat up the majority of the slavers yesterday. The blonde promptly punched the offending slaver, watching in satisfaction as the man went flying in one of the posts lining the port. The Uzumaki grunted in satisfaction and cracked his neck. It always felt good to give the bad guys their just desserts.

The rest of the kids crowded around Naruto, shouting incoherent shouts of praise. He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. There was a small cough and Naruto looked at the sound to see Simon holding out his hand, looking slightly embarrassed. Naruto grinned back, smiling enough for the two of them, and clasped the broad jawed boy's hand in his own and shook it once.

And that was the beginning of their mutual respect. Too bad they didn't get to appreciate for long.

"And I was wondering it was taking so long. I always said you were too soft on the slaves, Rydel," a scathing voiced sneered. Naruto and the slaves turned to see an almost grotesquely lanky man stalking toward the group. The man adorned the standard uniform that the slavers wore, a black hat with a ripple patterned jacket, and casually brandished a pair of knifes. Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. This man wasn't like these slavers here, this man wielded his knife like he knew how to use it.

This new slaver slinked over to the side of the cart and swiftly cut the ropes keeping the back of it shut. The back door of the wagon fell to the ground fell to the ground with a loud crash and the slaver motioned with a finger to the group. "Now kiddies, stand out here in a line so Mister here can look you over." he said soothingly to the huddled crowd of kids, though his emancipated appearance and scratchy voice gave the opposite of the intended effect. The slaver's smile fell and the slammed one of his knives down on the grained wood of the cart, earning a small cry of fear from the youngest captive. "Now." he snarled, drumming his fingers on the surface of the cart.

Naruto scowled at the man, but did as he was told. He didn't want the man to vent his anger on the children here, so he had to be patient. He whispered to Simon and the boy nodded understanding. The Uzumaki warmly gestured to the group and took the hand of the child closest to him, which just so happened to be Erza. In an orderly line, the captives slowly got off the cart, each lightly touching the other's shoulders, as their restraints kept them from holding hands. After the last child had gotten off, Simon took his place at the end of the line. It was more a show of defiance than anything, though the formation had practical purposes. With the line capped at both ends with the largest males, they were sending a message that they would protect the smaller, and wouldn't hesitate to retaliate of the lanky man attacked.

"How cute..." the tall slaver hissed, licking his blade sensuously. Ew. The man practically slithered over to Simon and cupped the boy's chin, lifting it up harshly. He massaged the preteen's arm muscles, taking care to let his nails dig in, and knelt down to tap the knee. Apparently satisfied, the slaver stood up. "Very good." he breathed. "Just... one final check, if you will."

The slaver leaned forward to stare at Simon's eyes and pulled an eyelid down in what looked like an inspection of the tear ducts. However, before the man finished, the dark haired boy flinched away, unable to hold in his disgust any longer. The man's smile grew positively demonic and he struck Simon down with the flat of the blade.

"I don't like the rebellion in your eyes, brat." the twisted man breathed, his beady eyes twisting up into slits with glee. He brandished his knife and fingered the edge. "I'll teach you obedience. But I'm not a generous man, boy. In exchange for me teaching you obedience..." The man was practically writhing with some perverse ecstasy. "I'll just take your eye!" he screamed, cackling into the air.

The group of men that had brought the kidnapped children here averted their eyes; even they were unwilling to see the twisted Goushin at work. Goushin cackled madly and brought his knife down on Simon's face, not particularly aiming for the eye; the more blood the better, in his opinion. Simon looked for an escape, but in vain; the emaciated slaver held him down and there was no running away. Simon closed his eyes and braced himself for the coming blow.

There was a sharp clang and Simon scrunched his eyes tighter. Ah! Ah, the... lack of pain? Simon cracked open one eye cautiously.

"Yare yare. I don't like the violence about you, asshole." Naruto smirked, intercepting Goushin's knife with a three-pronged kunai that he had pulled out of his jacket. The smirk vanished and the blond kicked the taller man to the ground. "What the hell do you think you're doing, harassing a kid half your age?"

Goushin scrambled to his feet angrily, gnashing his teeth. "Y-you boy... You dare interrupt me when I sate my bloodlust? Even the higher-ups at the Tower avoid me when I allow myself to go m- umgrph!"

Naruto promptly shoved his sandaled foot in the man's face interrupting the man's rant. "That's just 'cause you're so damn creepy. As for who I am, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the bane of your existence!"

"Narupho? Uvumaki?" the lanky man muttered, rolling the words off his mouth. His tooth-missing, busted-lipped mouth, that is.

"Yeah, me." Naruto snarled, impersonating Goushin's previous behavior. He smacked the man to the ground with the flat of his kunai and stepped on his arms, immobilizing him. "I'll say it again. I don't like the violence about you, asshole." Naruto smirked condescendingly. He licked his kunai, like Goushin did, grimacing inwardly at the taste. _Ew, I just felt like Orochi-pedo for a second there. _"I'll teach you obedience..." Naruto murmured. "But I'm not a generous person, asshole. In exchange, I'll just take your life."

Naruto's smirk vanished and was replaced by a cold look, one that would've made Sasuke proud. He raised his kunai and plunged his hand down at the man's head. The kunai stabbed into the rough dirt, quivering from the force that had implanted it. Naruto got up and dusted his knees, smiling slightly at the petrified look on the older man's face. "Just kidding. Do you think I'm gonna stoop to your level? Trust me, if I wanted you dead, you wouldn't even be here right now. But I warn you right now. You will not lay a hand on any of these kids and live to tell the tale."

Goushin adjusted his black hat angrily and snarled at Naruto, though it was obvious that he was still unnerved by the boy. "You haven't seen the last of me, punk. Just wait until we get to the Tower of Heaven. That place will wring the disobedience out of you sooner or later." Goushin picked up the knife he had dropped during Naruto's attack and stalked away, getting on what seemed like his own boat and speeding away over the waters.

The whole group of captive children burst into cheers, with Erza leading the chant. The slavers, now thoroughly cowed by Naruto's show of force, rather meekly led the kids towards the boats, and the kids followed, unaware what they were walking into.

The leader of the slavers leaned towards Naruto, "You know boy, I don't know whether to thank you or to fear for you. It did my heart good to see that evil man get his just desserts, but you don't know what you've gotten yourself into. The Tower is a horrible place, and I work there. Goushin will find you, when you're weak, tired, and hungry, and break you. Listen boy, I've grown fond of you; you whipped my men into shape and showed them what it meant to be human again. What would you say if I said I'd let you go free? I'm loathe to see you locked up in that place."

Naruto smiled and patted the man's shoulders. "I would have to refuse. Don't get me wrong, i'm glad you're worrying for me, old man. Don't ever lose that heart of your's. But I have to save the rest of the people stuck in that place. Don't worry about me, I'll be find. Just stay away from me, I can't guarantee your safety in the mess I'll make trying to escape."

The man nodded somberly. "You're years wiser than what you seem, boy. Godspeed, I'd hate to see someone as bright as you fade out."

Naruto began walking towards the cramped boat and took his place beside Erza and Simon, slinging an arm over their shoulders. "I'll be alright, old man. I have these friends with me. See you around."

The boat moved off of the dock as the six slavers surrounding the edge of it began to row. The captain of the men stared at the retreating form of the dinghy before turning around and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He turned to his remaining men, the ones that didn't leave on the boat with the kids. "Let's leave men. Next time, there'll be no killing, no burning."

"Aye."

0o0o0

(Rosemary Village)

Kagura strode out of the ruins of Rosemary Village. She frowned and adjusted her pants. It was so... uncomfortable in these pants. Why did boys wear them? Even she knew that her dress was impractical in surviving the wild, but still, pants were so itchy. Her frown deepened as she touched the back of her head, feeling the tight ponytail she had tied. Ugh, it was only a few minutes since she had finished preparing and it was already insufferable.

Kagura pulled out the ribbon in her pocket and stared at it. It had only been a couple of days, but the pearly white ribbon that her older brother had gotten her was now a mottled gray. She smiled a little crooked smile and began tying the ribbon to her wrist. Tightening the knot with her teeth, Kagura gave a small nod.

The ebony haired girl adjusted the pack on her back and strode out of the village. She stopped at the edge of the forest and took a deep breath. Why oh why was Rosemary Village surrounded by a circle of trees? There was forest everywhere and she had trek into it to go anywhere else. There was a footpath, though, so it wouldn't be that hard right? She took a step and let out the breath she had been holding. This was it. Her step into independence. She couldn't hide under her brother's protection anymore. She had to forge her own path, like that meanie onii-chan said.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the rugged wilderness of the woods, quickly disappearing from view as the eerie shadows of the forest swallowed her.

0o0o0

(Forest encircling Rosemary Village)

Sasuke pulled his sword of Kusanagi out of the beast's heart with a wet popping noise and flicked the blood of his blade. He eyed the wolf that was slain at his feet, its chest heaving as it tried to draw breath, its panicked eyes well knowing its end. Sasuke swiftly cut off the wolf's head, ending the beast's misery and slid the flat of his blade against a bush twice, letting its leaves clean the blood away.

It was strange, he thought to himself before sitting on a log. He cast his gaze onto the pack of wolves that he had just decimated. There were six in whole, three of which were female and the rest of which were just reaching adulthood. They were quite strong, compared to the animals back at home. Regular beasts of course, not summoning animals. They would be able to hold their own against the spiders of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, or the Forest of Death. He would even bet on them being able to outfight one of the tigers, if there were two of them. And that was what was so unsettling.

Sasuke stood up and unsheathed his sword, walking over to a growing tree that reached around three times of his height and felled it with one chakra-enhanced swing. He sat back down on the log and methodically began cutting the wood into rectangular chunks absently, letting his mind wander back to his previous thoughts. The Wolves. They were much more powerful than the wild ones back home, and his was a war-hardened world, full of fighting and devastation. If the wolves were any indication, this world's people too would be as strong, if not more powerful than the shinobi back home. Most unsettling.

The Uchiha jerked back as his chokuto nicked his finger while cutting the wood and hissed in pain. He looked around warily before sticking the injured finger in his mouth and sucking. He let out a relieved sigh at the soothing balm and eyed the clearing again. It wouldn't do for anyone to see an Uchiha doing a boorish an act such as sucking his finger. He popped his finger out of his mouth and stood up, moving to one of the wolves. He wiped his finger on the wolf's pelt inconspicuously and coughed embarrassedly. He then proceeded to cut off the leg off. He dragged the severed leg back to his spot on the log and began to skin it.

After a few minutes, the Uchiha put the leg on a makeshift spit and used a small Katon jutsu to get a fire started. It may be a little disgusting to eat a wolf, but experience had told him it was much better that some of the other things he had had to eat in his shinobi career. While the fat on the wolf's leg hissed and spat as it fell into the fire, Sasuke sprinkled a few herbs he had found onto the leg, ignoring the fact that he was to have done that before. Sasuke sighed and rocked back and forth as he waited for the leg to be cooked to well done. A wolf wasn't like a cow, which was a herbivore. A wolf was a carnivore and its bodies had certain bacteria in it that allowed to be protected from the rancid meat that some carnivore had to eat. There were too many stories of shinobi dropping dead from food poisoning for the Uchiha to do the same.

His gaze swung towards the group of slain wolves. It was, after all, pretty hard not to notice the bloodstained bodies of the carnivores reddening the clearing. The raven haired shinobi sighed and ruffled his hair before making his way towards one of the bodies. He supposed he should get rid of them, before vultures or any other animals were drawn to the smell of blood and carrion.

"Amaterasu (Heavenly Illumination)."

The black flames sprung to life on each of the carcasses, slowly but surely burning them down. Sasuke stood in the middle of the small ring of fire he had formed around himself, controlling the flames. After the flames had burned the carcasses to ashes, the scarlet eyed Uchiha willed the flames to disappear. Panting slightly, he wiped the blood that had begun to spill from his right eye. Sasuke cursed quietly at the drain on his chakra reserves. It wasn't as bad as it was the day before, when he used the hellfire to cremate the dead villagers, as there were only a few wolves, but the drain was still noticable and very annoying. The only thing that reassured him was that his eyesight wouldn't deteriorate from the use of the Mangekyo, something that Sasuke never took for granted. He thanked Itachi silently for the umpteenth time for the use of the Mangykyo and sat back down on the log, contemplating what he had seen silently.

There were three females and three young wolves, but there were no grown males. No Alpha, as far as he had seen. That meant that the rest of the pack was still nearby. Sasuke shrugged. He would burn that bridge when he got to it, there was no need to worry. The hissing of the fire brought his attention back to the spit and he frowned deeply.

The meat was barely cooked. It had only begun to brown, and as calm and collected as he was, Sasuke had not much patience. An idea struck him, and he began to chuckle silently, before bursting out laughing at his genius. He abruptly stopped and coughed. He was seriously beginning to question his sanity. Maybe it was because he was completely alone, but he was being way too... emotional.

Back to his amazing plan, he turned his gaze to the leg of meat.

"Amaterasu (Heavenly Illumination)."

The dark flames flickered to life on the leg, quickly cooking it. Sasuke quickly shut off the hellfire, as quickly as it had appeared, and picked up the leg carefully, looking it.

He smirked and took a bite of the meat. Ha. Who knew the Amaterasu worked as a high-speed oven?

0o0o0

(Tower of Heaven)

Erza was nervous. And scared. But mostly nervous. Not for herself though, but for Naruto. She had seen it for herself how strong the blonde was, once last night and again with that creepy man, but that was exactly why she was so apprehensive.

What if the slavers decided to retaliate in a group? What if they took their anger out on the little kids? Finally, what would become of them now, trapped in the tower?

Speaking of the tower, Erza was staring up at it, unconsciously leaning in closer to Naruto; since when did she get so close to the blond? The Tower was a majestic structure, with its grandiose height and intricate patterns, but all that elegance was overshadowed by its eeriness.

The tower reached up towards the sky, losing itself in the dense clouds above. It spindled upwards, sometimes it seemed to double back over itself, teetering to the side such that it was a miracle in and of itself that it didn't collapse. It gave off an unsettling feel, which was why Erza was practically buried in Naruto's side.

"We're here. I'd tell you kids to look alive, but there wouldn't be any point." One of the men steering the boat said rather gravely. "Get off the boat now. Oh, and try not to die."

With piece of sobering information, the slavers picked up each of the kids and put them on the shore. Of course, the younger kids were too much in shock to retaliate and the older ones had realized the futility of fighting back-they were in the middle of the sea!- and walked off the boat themselves. When all the kids had gotten off the boat, The group of slavers began to sail away, not even bothering to look back at the group of kids, knowing they hadn't a chance of surviving.

Erza shivered and brought her hands closer to herself. She, led by Naruto, and the other smaller children, led by Simon, were brought to a large doorway. It would've beautiful if not for the disquieting aura it gave off, with its embroidered and elaborate designs. The gates creaked open and the group was met with a rush of hot, dank air. They made their way to the center of the large room where there was an old man and another slaver waiting for them.

The old man was ancient. His eyebrows and beard hung down at a length that Erza didn't even think was possible, but his eyes were kind, and the majority of his wrinkles were those caused by laughing. He was dressed in rags and his hands were bound together by a heavy pair of shackles. He was a slave, she realized. A slave, like she was now. A sense of disgust rose up in her throat and she had to swallow the bile that had flooded her throat. This was... inhumane.

The slaver behind them was a different. He had the customary uniforms of the slavers, and his eyes were cold and empty, as if he had seen too much, too many times, and had just shut down. The man fingered the edge of a nightstick, which he no doubt used to "educate" misbehaving slaves.

Erza shivered again and leaned in closer to Naruto. She found herself shivering a lot lately too. Gods, she hoped it wasn't a permanent thing.

The old man hobbled over to them and smiled kindly. "Welcome to the Tower of Heaven. It may not be kindest or the easiest place, but the slaves here support each other until the end." he said. The slaver nodded behind him; that much was true, the old man hadn't committed any verbal treason or anything. "My name is Rob, it's nice to meet you." he smiled, putting out his hand.

Both Simon and Naruto stepped forward to accept the handshake. The two stared at each other incredulously, honestly surprised that the other thought he was the leader of the group. Then they glared at each other, sparks flying.

"Look Naruto, I appreciate you taking care of Erza, but I was the one who did that long before you did, along with the rest of the village kids." Simon said.

"Really, well can you tell who it was that protected all of you from that madman slaver back there?" Naruto shot back.

While the two boys battled it out, Erza took it upon herself to be the mature one. She stepped forward and shook the old man's hand firmly. Rob laughed and patted her on the head. "Come on then, I'll take you to our quarters. Follow me." he chortled, hobbling over to one of the many doors leading out of the room.

Naruto and Simon exchanged scandalized glances before shrugging and following a smug Erza. The redheaded girl smiled thoughtfully and looked out the nearest window. The sun was setting now, illuminating the sky a brilliant crimson. It was beautiful. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all. She had all her friends here with her after all.

Sorrows shared were sorrows divided, right?

Her smile drooped fractionally as she thought about the little black haired girl she had left back at the village. Erza wondered what the little girl was doing now and felt a little guilty.

She had no one to share her sorrows.

0o0o0

(Forest Encircling Rosemary Village)

Kagura sneezed violently and cursed loudly. The shadows of the forest were practically swallowing her and she couldn't even see clearly where she was going. And now she was getting a cold?! She scrubbed her nose violently and screamed in frustration.

"ARGH! I HATE THIS!"

She leaned over panting, wiping the sweat off her brow with her arm. There were a group of rustling noises as a flock of birds erupted from the trees around her and flew away, probably startled by her outburst. Kagura stood still and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly and opened her eyes calmly. This wasn't the time to break down in frustration, no matter how infuriating the whole situation was. She looked up at the small patches of sky that peeked through the dense canopy above her. It was almost night now, she had been trekking through the woods for the good part of two hours and her legs were killing her. But she couldn't rest yet, nope, not yet.

She moved over to a fallen tree branch and used her kunai knife to cut off shavings from the dry wood and moved all her work over to a small clearing. She then broke the rest of it by jumping on the branch while it was angled against a rock. She gathered the woods and shavings into one pile. She then ripped up some leaves from the ground and wiped her brow again.

"Urh, I'm glad I listened to that oji-chan when he told how to make a fire." she muttered, before searching the ground for a piece of that shiny rock that sparkled. After ten frustrating minutes, in which the sun had gone down even further, Kagura finally located a rather large one the size of her fist, and struck the rock with the handle of her kunai. Sparks erupted from the rock, and when a couple of them had landed on the pile of kindling, she blew softly to coax the fire to life.

Her grimy face broke out into a broad grin as the small embers lit up the kindling. She excitedly put the larger pieces of wood around the kindling and sprinkled more wood shaving once the fire had reached a considerable. She was just about to search the clearing around her-the fire was now a surprisingly good light source- to find some rocks to line the fire, when she heard a deep growl. She gulped and retreated back behind the growing fire.

Minutes ticked by with Kagura with her knees to her chest, wide-eyed and staring at the darkness ahead of her. She had long since used the rest of the branches she had picked up to create a makeshift fence around her, and lit the ends of them on fire for extra protection. She was sweating profusely, making her sticky and dirty, never a good combination, but it was better than being eaten by whatever was out there. With a low growl, three wolves came out of the darkness of the woods, their gray eyes piercing into her.

Kagura bit her tongue to keep from whimpering. She had heard that wolves could smell fear, and the last thing she needed was for the beasts to think she was easy prey. Kagura's stomach growled and the all the wolves perked up to stare at her. She cursed silently at her luck, or lack thereof. She dared not open her pack and take out some food lest the wolves attack her for it. One of the wolves padded forward towards her and swiped his paw at the flickering red mass in front of it, testing the waters. It promptly yelped and sprang back , nursing an injured paw. The other two wolves jumped forward and started snarling at her, as if she were to blame for the wolf's stupidity. The trio of wolves padded a good distance away from the fire and lay down.

Kagura shivered, though it was far from cold with the blazing inferno in front of her. She knew that the only protection between her and certain death was her crudely made fence of flame. She also knew that the flame was slowly burning out, and soon there would be no fence of flame. She gulped nervously and shivered again.

It was going to be a long night.

0o0o0

(Unknown Location - Forest Encircling Rosemary Village)

Sasuke stamped out the rest of his fire pit that he had used to cook his leg, and used a quick douse of flames to burn the leg, so as to not attract unwanted scavengers. It was foolish, he knew, to be eating a nicely-cooked leg in the middle of a forest, where the smell of blood and prepared mean would no doubt attract predators, but really, what was there to fear when you were one of the strongest shinobi in existence. Were, past tense, he reminded himself. His power had diminished much more that he had planned on, but he was still stronger than anyone he had met in this world. He yawned and activated his sharingan, which allowed him to see the world in a brighter color, granting him a night vision of sorts.

The Sharingan was really overrated. It only granted two powers: the power to see chakra or really any energy in colors, and the power of enhanced clarity. The first power basically allowed any Uchiha to see the chakra of another person, from remnants of it leaked from days ago to the suppressed hint of color as an enemy shinobi tried to hide. This really was what allowed the Uchiha to have such amazing prowess at genjutsu and at chakra control. Take the example of two rings swinging side by side, tied to the same horizontal pole. At one instant, the two rings would reach the same height, and the goal would be to throw a kunai between the two rings and make it go through it without bothering the ring's motion. Difficult, for sure, but that was chakra control, matching up the amount of chakra charged up and the amount released. The sharingan basically granted the Uchiha "sight", allowing him to see the moment where the "rings" would intersect. Without a sharingan, it would be like trying to do the task blindfolded. Of course, there were skilled shinobi who had learned the art of chakra control through sheer intuition, but the Sharingan granted a shortcut. That ease for chakra control and the ability to see chakra in colors would then allow the Sharingan user to slide in just a bit of his own chakra into the weakest tenketsu in the enemy's body, making genjutsu that much easier.

The second aspect of the Sharingan dealt with enhanced clarity. This was what gave the fully matured Sharingan the precognizant effect it seemed to have. This ability was what allowed Sasuke to copy any taijutsu move at will, using his enhanced clarity to memorize every movement, and letting the Sharingan assimilate the movement into his muscle memory. Taking that a step further and combining it with the ability to see chakra was what made the ability to copy almost any jutsu at all. Using the enhanced clarity to copy the handsigns, and the chakra sensing to copy the fluctuations in chakra. Simple really, once you had the concept down. Of course, the Mangekyo Sharingan was overpowered and a hack, but that brought blindness upon the user. The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was a godsend, though. Completely unbeatable and a hack in life. Just the way he liked it.

Sasuke jerked out of his analytical thoughts and sniffed the air, subtly sending tendrils of chakra to his nose to enhance his sense of smell. Was that... fire? He knew it wasn't the ashes from his own campfire. The Flames of Amaterasu burnt ferociously and left no smell or smoke to designate itself. The Uchiha frowned and put a hand on his Sword of Kusanagi. Whatever it was, it was near, and it was human.

He jumped to the trees, jumping from trunk to trunk in a modification of the standard tree-hopping. Wherever the source of fire was, it was near the village, and that meant it was near the black-haired girl he had left. He had been harsh to the girl, but that didn't mean he would allow some bandit to kill her off. He jumped off another trunk, splintering the wood in his haste.

Since when had he grown so caring?

0o0o0

Kagura gulped and stood up, her back to the tree. The roaring fence of flame was little more than a circle of dying embers now. She held a torch in her hand, which she had made from the bottom half of her shirt and had lit before the flames had completely died out. The torch too, was beginning to die, which would leave her with no protection.

The wolves growled in satisfaction and exchanged glances, as if communicating on which would get to attack her first. In fact, that was what they were probably doing. She gulped and looked up. The tree she had her back to was impossible to climb, at least for her. She shivered before setting her jaw. If she was going to die here, she was going to go out fighting. She swung her torch back and forth, which somehow burnt brighter with her swings instead of going out. She snarled at the wolves, who growled back.

"Come on, you mutts! I have nothing to lose! COME ON!" she screamed, brandishing her torch like a mace. She somehow managed to club the lead wolf in the temple, which shocked her to no end. The beast seemed just a scandalized as she was before it snarled deeply.

"Yeah, that's right. Let's go!" she yelled almost incoherently, the fear of the situation and the adrenaline pulsing through her clouding her judgement. Yeah, she probably shouldn't have been provoking the wolves.

The wolves gnashed their teeth before tensing their legs and jumping at her at once. Kagura, for her part, didn't back down. She just closed her eyes, and let out a shaking sigh. Well, at least she went out like a badass.

SQUELC-whimper..

Hot drops of some liquid splashed on Kagura's face and she cracked open her eyes and wiped it off. It was blood. So she was dying. That explained the squelching sound, it was probably the wolf's teeth gnawing into her. They said that once pain become too great, you stop feeling it. Maybe that was true. She looked down calmly, what was there to fear, she was dead now, and saw no wolves chewing on her, no blood staining her clothes, no white of bone poking out of her skin.

She looked up incredulously to see the bifuracated bodies of the three wolves lying at her feet. She looked over to her left to see the black-haired onii-chan cleaning his reddened blade.

"So that's where the rest of the pack went." he muttered. He raised his head and when he caught Kagura's gaze he walked over to her and poked her forehead.

"Yare yare, it hasn't even been a day and you already find yourself in situations like these." he murmured quietly.

"Erm..." Kagura muttered, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. The sudden loss of adrenalin left the black haired girl feeling rather empty and overwhelmed at the same time. She looked up to find the black haired boy looking at her from a distance away.

"What're you doing?" he asked. "If you're gonna get into trouble at every turn, there's gotta be someone to protect you right?"

Kagura broke out into a wide grin and ran to the onii-chan, glomping in a wide hug. "Yeah!" she agreed enthusiastically.

Sasuke frowned and crinkled his nose.

"We need to get you a new shirt. I look like a lolicon."

* * *

**Chapter End.**

_I'm sorry guys it took so long!_

_Reasons:_

_ in general._

_3. The juggling of seven AP classes. Yup, I'll try not to die._

_4. Trying to churn out another chapter of Blade of Emptiness: Maelstrom of Honor. _

_5. Hanging with friends and shtuff._

_6. Where did number 2 go?_

_Right so just some small things on the chapter I'd like to share and ask._

_How did y'all feel about the personalities of the characters in general?_

_Naruto, I thought I was on the ball._

_Erza was a little more wimpy than in canon, but here she hasn't gone through Jellal's betrayal._

_Kagura is a lot more emotional, but she was like that in the flashback in canon. She only become calm and collected after a lloooong time._

_Sasuke is... odd. I thought I got his personality pretty accurately, if the emo allowed himself to show some more emotion. He acts cold at first, but warms up later. He also shows a lot more emotion when no one's watching which I personally liked._

_How were the erratic transitions? It's really freaking hard trying to balance out four main characters. It helps that the four of them are in two-man (woman) pairs, but it's still difficult. How did you like it? Any suggestions?_

_Now, my rendition of the Sharingan. I thought is was really really accurate, as far as a description of it went. It only has two main powers, which really doesn't make it as OP as Kishimoto makes it out to be. It's only the creativity and the intuition of the user that makes it as powerful as it is. The Byakugan can be argued to be just as strong, with its own little handy arsenal of powers. Then Kishimoto had to make the Mangekyo... What the hell man?_

_So what did you think about my little explanation of the Sharingan?_

_Really, I'm just writing things down as I think of them, so there are bound to be things I'm missing. If I miss anything, shoot me a PM or give me a review. I've actually decided not to make any review responses through the chapter. It's a pretty inefficient process, unless I update frequently, which I really don't. So log in and I'll shoot you a PM in a few days if I think your review is really meaningful. (by meaningful I mean even just asking me a short question. If you have cool name, I might say thanks even though you had like a one word review. WARNING those that have reviewed to me before know this. I write REALLY LONG REVIEW RESPONSES. so if your review is about 150 words, mine's like 500, proportionally)._

_Goushin is just an OC that won't really have any significance in the story at all. He'll just play one major role in the current arc and we'll never see him again. I hope you guys hated him, since I sure did. Gou- is the kanji for torture and Shin is the kanji for madly in love with, or death. So his name either translates to Torture and Death, or Torture Lover, roughly. Yeah, I'ma be using Kanji to write the small number of OC's names. But since Fairy Tail uses more Western names e.g. Gildarts, Gray, Makarov, I'll use some of those as well._

_Can anybody guess the what manga I was alluding to when I wrote Kagura's flashback? It was basically plagerized word for word, since I thought the scene was perfect, sorry Mashima-dono._

_Lolicon is a pedophile, except for little girls, not boys. _

_Ummm what else?_

_I love Rob. He's a great guy, and I'll have a fun time trying to find an accurate sounding and plausible explanation of his powers. (Read the wiki) I also need to decide whether he dies or not. Decisions, decisions._

_Eh, Sasuke and Kagura, is there anything to say? He saved her life, so I think that blows away any lingering resentment for him leaving her. _

_So go vote on the poll on who is paired with who. It was originally only Naruto Pairings but I added Sasuke pairings so go do that._

_As always, Read, Review, and Favorite. _


	4. 911 Blurb for you

Hey all.

Sorry for the disappointment if you were expecting a chapter, but I just wanted to take a break from my writing and give a heartfelt thank-you to the heroes of the 9/11 attack that devastated America over a decade ago. Those firemen, policemen, or even just normal citizens who happened to be in the right place and time to help out, (cause you probably don't sit here reading fanfiction) I want to thank you.

And more than that, I want to offer my condolences to those that had loved ones killed in the attack, either from the tower or the plane. Sometimes, I think we forget that the people that are affected the most aren't the people who died, but the people who survived and have to live with the loss of a loved one. No one can truly fill the hole left in your heart the same way.

So, that's really all I wanted to say, no updates, though I am writing as best I can. I'm sure y'all are tired of all the people commenting and posting stuff like this (my facebook news feed has blown up with 9/11 pictures and stuff). I for one have never lost a love one to the attack, I was still in Korea haah... But I have a close friend of mine who did, and have had loved ones die on me; not quite the same, but.. I don't usually do this, but I just felt obligated to do this today, for some reason.

A New Beginning is being written as we speak, have the outline done and everything. Maelstrom of Honor is in planning. Finished the outline and am just waiting to finish the next chapter of New Beginning (I also have to find a way to have Ulquiorra not kill Teuchi or Ayame without making him look wimpy). So keep an eye out for that.

Yeah, so don't flame me for this not being an update. This'll actually probably stay up here until I update this, or for at least another week, since I want you people to read this status update, and since I gave some good story recommendation for y'all (to read while waiting for me to get my ass in gear.)

Full of Seoul

P.S. Part of the reason I'm posting this is because 9/11 is my birthday. Yeah, for real. Happy Birthday to me.

P.P.S So you don't kill me for getting your hopes up, I'll direct you people to a rather Naruto story I found. It's called "But I AM Madara!" by Kyong kybis, where Madara (when he's a kid and still a nice guy) is sent to the future. It's fun, trust me, though his chapter length isn't anything to be proud of. It'll maybe last you a day or two for you fast readers. Another would be "New Identity in the Past" by Dreamyin. This one is about Naruto trying to send himself back in time after losing the war. Yeah, sound generic? But then, instead of it working, he's stuck in another person's body. Obito's. Yeah, mindblown. This one is one of my personal favorites. So go waste time with that, and I'll see you people soon.


End file.
